Little House on the Prairie: The Boy from the Future
by midnightrebellion86
Summary: A Wisconsin man who loves exploring abandoned places receives new safety gear and decides to go explore an abandoned farmhouse. While exploring, he falls through a collapsing floor. Things get weird when he wakes up in Post-Civil War 19th Century, but he's also no longer an adult. He's forced to learn the ways of the 19th century and learn to be a kid again.
1. Episode 1: Boy from the Future

**Hello all, King Reeses here.**

 **This is my first attempt at a Little House on the Prairie story. This is based off the TV series and not the books. I notice in the show that people don't have the best grammar and not a lot of people went to school back during those days. So I will be writing using words like ain't and other bad grammar when certain people speak.**

 **Some things will remain canon, but there will be some changes. Chapters will be labled episodes and will have short episode summaries.**

 **This series will start during season 1, so Mary will have her eyesight and Carrie will talk like a baby.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Little House on the Prairie. I just own my OCs and story ideas.**

 **Story Title: Little House on the Prairie: The Boy from the Future**

 **Story Summary: A Wisconsin man who loves exploring abandoned places receives new safety gear and decides to go explore an abandoned farmhouse. While exploring, he falls through a collapsing floor. Things get weird when he wakes up in Post-Civil War 19th Century, but he's also no longer an adult. He's forced to learn the ways of the 19th century and learn to be a kid again. He decides to take on a new identity when asked what his name is.**

 **Season 1: Episode 1: Boy from the Future**

 **Episode Summary: A young man finds himself in the 19th century after an exploration of a farmhouse gone wrong then realizes that he's a little boy again. When asked who he is, he takes on the identity of Sitala King Reese McLaurin.**

* * *

 _'Queue Little House on the Prairie TV Show opening song'_

 _Charles Ingalls is seen plowing his fields using his main horse._

 _The scene turns to Caroline Ingalls gathering water from the creek using two wooden buckets._

 _The next scene consists of Laura and Mary Ingalls racing through the grass._

 _The music changes to a low toned sinister beat as Sitala and Carrie run from Oleson's Mercantile with an angry Mrs. Oleson in hot pursuit with a wooden strap._

 _'The music ends with Mrs. Oleson running out of breath and unable to catch the two kids.'_

* * *

 **Janesville, Wisconsin. 2018**

The late winter/early spring wind blew calmly through the cloudy Wisconsin sky. A chorus of engines were heard as cars and trucks rolled along the concrete streets. Spring time was lagging behind as the air was still cold and people still needed to turn on the heat in order to keep themselves warm. Several trees hadn't started growing leaves yet, while some had just a few leaves. Several parts of the grass was still covered with snow, but not nearly enough for kids to go out to build a snowman. All the sidewalks and street corners were completely clear of snow.

A white house converted into a four unit apartment complex sat proudly at one street corner sat proudly as the parallel traffic drove up and down the street. For one occupant in this apartment complex, he was about to have one interesting day.

We're Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister began playing in the background.

Standing in the bathroom of one of the apartments was an African American young man in his late twenties or early thirties. He was busy brushing this teeth. After finishing with that, he spat the paste into the sink and rinsed his mouth out with mouthwash.

There was a knock at the door, which caused the man to get startled, "Shit!" he shouted before quickly rinsing the toothpaste off of his beard. There was another knock at the door, which made the man a bit annoyed, "I'm coming!"

The man quickly ran towards the front door, unlocked it and opened it. Standing on the other side of the door was a middle aged heavy set man wearing a UPS uniform. He was holding a large box in his hands and he had a digital machine that required a signature, "Are you Quincy Washington?" he asked.

The young man now known as Quincy nodded his head, "Yes, that's me," he replied.

"I just need you to sign this, please," the UPS man said.

Quincy grabbed the device and the electronic pen and signed his name. He handed the pen and machine bck to the delivery man.

The UPS man then handed Quincy his package, "Thank you sir," he said, "Have a good rest of your day."

The UPS man turned around and walked down the three steps and Quincy shut the door and locked it again. The song that was playing in the background had ended, leaving the apartment in dead silence. Quincy walked over to his couch and placed the package on the far right end before heading back into the bathroom to finish up. He groomed his beard then made his way into the bedroom and picked up the remote, "Alexa, turn on Playstation Vue," he said.

"This is Playstation Vue," the Alexa voice on the Amazon Fire TV Box said back before opening up app.

Destination America popped up and it was airing Amish Haunting.

Quincy then went back into the living room to check the contents of the package, "Well, I hope everything's here," he said to himself as he proceeded to open the box. He pulled out the Amazon slip with the contents ordered and he tossed it aside before pulling out the three layers of bubble wrap. Without any hesitation, he began popping the bubble wrap, but realized he was wasting time. The first thing Quincy pulled out was an orange safety helmet with yellow zigzag streaks on the sides. The next item was a pair of safety goggles, then a safety mask and safety gloves. There was also a thick layered long sleeved safety suit and disinfectant spray, "Well, everything's here."

Now satisfied that all the items were there, Quincy went back into the other room to finish getting ready for the day.

* * *

Quincy entered the Lion's Quick Mart convenience store and he was wearing an orange Reese's winter coat, due to it still being cold outside. He had a miniature white shopping cart with him and he had a white cane with him, due to him being visually impaired. There were no other customers in the store at the time and the woman working behind the counter looked at the new arrival, "Quincy, what brings you out here during this time?" she asked, "You're usually here late at night."

Quincy turned his attention to the lady working the counter, "I could ask you the same thing, Lynn," he replied in a smart ass tone, "But anyway, my package came earlier than I expected, so now I'm just getting some last minute supplies."

Quincy then placed his cart at the side counter out of the way of other shoppers that may enter the store. Quincy first made his way to the back of the store where the bottles of soda were kept. He grabbed a few bottles of Vanilla Coke and a few bottles of Mountain Dew Pitch Black before heading back to the front.

Lynn gave Quincy her 'already?' look, "Are you out of sodas already?" she asked as she began ringing up the sodas.

"No, I just wanted a couple of flavors that I can't get here in cans," Quincy replied, "So what brings you here this early?"

"Well, the person that usually works this shift got sick, so I was asked to fill in at the last minute," Lynn replied.

Quincy then made his way over to another cooler where all the pre made cold cut sandwiches and pre cooked spaghetti dinners were kept. He grabbed two spaghetti dinners that had shredded cheese on top with sausages and a few double roast beef and cheddar cold cut sandwiches with lettuce on them and brought them over to the counter. After that, made his way down another aisle and grabbed two bags of trail mix and a box of Fruity Pebbles and Cinnamon Toast Crunch before heading back to the counter to drop those items off. After dropping those items off, he made his way to the ice machine and grabbed two bags of ice. He then made his way back to the counter and placed the two bags of ice next to his other items.

Lynn began ringing up the remainder of the items, "Is that all you're getting today?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's all for today," Quincy replied.

Lynn finished ringing up all the items and began bagging them, "Your total is $49.82," she said.

Quincy went into his left pocket and pulled out his debit card and swiped it through the card slot on the machine. He pressed the credit button on the touch screenand a receipt printed out of the register after giving the approved sign.

Lynn handed Quincy a separate receipt and a pen, "I need you to sign," she said.

Quincy grabbed the pen and signed his name before handing Lynn her store's copy. She gave Quincy his copy and he put it into his coat pocket. Quincy then placed all his newly bought items into his personal shopping cart.

"What are you going to do today, Quincy?" asked Lynn.

"Well, now that I got my safety gear, I'm going to go on an urbex camping trip," Quincy replied, "That's why I got all this stuff. With it still being chilly outside, the ice will last much longer and I have several cans of Sterno to keep warm in my tent. My first stop is going to be that old abandoned farmhouse. Ever since I saw it online, I had to explore it."

"You better be careful," said Lynn, "I don't want you getting yourself hurt."

"I'll be fine," said Quincy, "My eyesight may suck, but I'll be alright."

Quincy proceeded to leave, but Lynn stopped him, "Oh wait, I forgot to ask you," she started, "Were you able to get Freddie's Comeback seasoning?"

Quincy turned around, "Yes, I bought a shit ton," he replied, "I was pissed when Freddie decided to sell Bros Gyros. But at least I bought enough of his seasoning to last a lifetime. It was expensive, but damn worth it."

Lynn laughed, "I just hope the food taste just as good under the new owner," she said.

"Me too," said Quincy, "But I better get home before this ice starts to melt."

"Okay, you have a safe camping trip," said Lynn.

* * *

Quincy now had everything packed as he left the apartment and locked up. He had a large gray backpack, which housed his food. He had a smaller blue shoulder bag, which housed his sleeping bag, his tent and his safety gear. And in his right hand was his white cane.

Quincy walked the half block towards the bus stop and waited for the city bus to come. After a few minutes of waiting, the city bus came and he entered the bus. After paiying the bus fair, Quincy sat down in the front seat and placed his bags down next to him. The bus doors shut and Quincy looked out the window and watched as the bus drove away from his block and he went off into his own little world.

* * *

After a good forty five minutes of bus riding and walking, Quincy had finally reached his first destination. He reached the old farmhouse, which was in really bad shape. Quincy took this time to hide behind some bushes and out of traffic and change into his safety gear. Quincy waited until there was no incoming traffic before he quickly made his way towards the abandoned farmhouse. He entered through the old wooden door, which was practically falling off the hinges. Once inside the abandoned house, there was an old broken couch sitting against the wall, which had some holes in it. An old tube TV with the screen caked in dust sat across from the couch and next to the tv was a broken bookshelf. The floor had mold on it.

"Thank goodness I prepared myself first," Quincy said to himself.

Quincy slowly walked deeper into the farmhouse and proceeded towards the stairs. The stairs didn't look safe, so he decided to skip going upstairs. He then went into the kitchen. The kitchen table was still intact, but very dirty. The refrigerator was also intact as well as the stove. Quincy then decided to go towards the back room and as he continued to walk, he felt the floor collapsing from underneath him.

Quincy tried to move out of the way, but he wasn't quick enough, "WHOA SHIT!" he shouted.

He collapsed through the floor.

* * *

The sound of wheels could be heard rolling against the ground and horses could be heard whinnying as their hooves walked.

"Whoa," a deep voice said.

The animals stopped and a set of footsteps could be heard stepping down onto the ground.

"Charles, look over there!" a second man said in a frantic tone.

"What is it, Isaiah?" the first man known as Charles asked.

Quincy's eyes opened and his sight was blurry. He heard the men walking towards him and when his sight finally cleared up, he found himself in the middle of a field. Standing over him was a man wish short dark brown hair and a matching full beard. He was wearing a white shirt under black suspenders and brown boots. The second man had shaggy dark brown curly hair and he was wearing a black shirt and blue jean suspenders and black boots. Next to them was a team of two horses hitched to a buggy.

'Oh great, I got caught exploring property owned by the Amish," Quincy thought.

"Boy, are you alright?" the man with the full beard asked.

This confused Quincy. He was not a boy, "I'm not a bo-" Quincy began to panic now. He no longer had a deep voice. Instead he had a child's wee voice. He touched his face, and sure enough, his full beard was gone. Instead, his face was smooth with absolutely no trace of facial hair ever growing there, "My beard!"

Both men let out a loud laugh. Quincy didn't find it funny at all.

He began to panic. He didn't know what to do, "Where am I?!" he asked.

"We're near Walnut Grove, Minnesota," the man with no beard answered, "What's your name, son?"

Quincy went into deep thought. He didn't know these people and he didn't trust them either. At the same time, here he was as a kid again and in a different place, "I'm Sitala King Reese McLaurin, or just Sitala."

Both men smiled and the man without a beard spoke next, "Nice to meet you, Sitala," he said and helped the kid to his feet, "I'm Charles Ingalls and this is my friend Mr. Edwards."

"It's good to meet you, Sitala," Mr. Edwards said, "Now what are you doin all the way out here?"

"I was exploring an abandoned farmhouse and the next thing I knew, I fell through the floor," Sitala replied.

Both Charles and Mr. Edwards had looks of disbelief on their faces.

"Boy, ain't no house out here," said Mr. Edwards, "Do ya have family nearby?"

Sitala stood still as both Charles and Mr. Edwards awaited an answer. He took a breath and finally gave his reply, "No, I don't have family nearby," he replied.

"If ya ain't got any family in the area, then where're ya from?" asked Mr. Edwards.

"I'm from Wisconsin," said Sitala, "I was born in Milwaukee, but currently live in Janesville."

Both Charles and Mr. Edwards walked a few feet away from Sitala to talk amongst themselves. The two came back after a few minutes and Charles looked at the newcomer, "I tell you what," he started, "Why don't you come with us back into town."

Sitala was hesitant, but nodded his head. He climbed into the wagon and Charles and Mr. Edwards got in front and Charles began driving the buggy.

Mr. Edwards looked in the back, "Say, Sitala, how old are you?" he asked.

"I'm 31," Sitala replied.

Sitala's reaction caused the two in the front to burst into laughter, "Ha, ha, ha, ha!" they both laughed at the same time.

Charles was holding his side and caught his breath for a minute, "31? Ha ha ha," he laughed, "You only look just months older than Half-Pint."

This only confused Sitala, "Who is Half-Pint?" he asked with a puzzled look written all over his face.

The laughter had finally stopped and Charles answered, "You'll meet Half-Pint soon enough," he said.

Mr. Edwards started looking at Sitala funny, "Boy, why your eyes movin' like that?" he asked.

This caught Sitala off guard. Sure enough, he still had his visual impairment from before. He was used to people assuming the worst without asking questions first. It wasn't often that someone would actually ask questions rather than assume. This alone earned Mr. Edwards points with Sitala, "Oh, it's a part of my eye condition," he said, "My eyes have been moving like that my whole life."

Mr. Edwards and Charles both seemed satisfied with Sitala's answer.

* * *

The buggy pulled up to a property that consisted of a small brown house with the point of the roof sticking up near the far left part of the little house. The rest of the roof slanted down as it went further down. Next to the little house was the barn and a place to keep chickens.

Sitala looked up at the sky, and he could tell that it was sometime between late afternoon or early evening.

The buggy came to a complete halt and Charles turned to Sitala, "Everyone should be home now," he said, "Come in and meet the family."

Sitala nodded, grabbed his cane and got out of the buggy. He followed Charles and Mr. Edwards towards the house. Charles opened the wooden door and the inside of the house consisted of wooden flooring, a simple rectangular table in the center of the room, a fireplace to the left with a mantle. The small kitchen area which consisted of a wood stove and a pot of water to the right of that.

There was a latter that led to a loft of some sort and two small separate rooms downstairs, one obviously being for Charles and his wife and the other for a kid.

Standing in the kitchen/common area was a young woman in either her late twenties or early thirties with brown hair tied in a tight bun. She was wearing a white old school top and a long black dress and had on a white bonnet. She was holding a little girl, who appeared to be about three or four years old at the most. Standing next to the woman was a girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes and she appeared to be about 11 or 12 years of age, and next to her was a girl with long dark hair that was braided in pigtails. She appeard to be about eight or nine years old.

The people occupying the house were all confused, but Charles quickly stepped in, "Caroline, me and Mr. Edwards were on our way back here when we found him," he stated, "Family, this is Sitala McLaurin. Sitala, this is my wife, Caroline, the girl she's holding is my daughter Carrie and next to her are my daughters Mary and Laura."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Sitala," said Caroline.

Laura had a look of curiosity in her eyes and she was eager to start asking questions, "Wow, a black boy!" she said with excitement in her voice.

Caroline got a scolding look on her face, "Laura, don't be rude," she warned.

"It's fine," said Sitala, "Black or African American is fine."

"Why are you carrying that stick for?" asked Mary.

"Oh, it's called a cane," said Sitala, "It's a tool to identify to people that I don't see very well."

Sitala's stomach growled loudly, which caused everyone to laugh. When the laughter died down, Caroline had a smile on her face, "Sitala, why don't you stay for supper," she suggested, "And don't try to argue with me that you're intruding. Your stomach would disagree with you."

* * *

Everyone was now gathered around the dinner table. Charles sat at one end of the table, while Caroline sat at the other end. Mary and Mr. Edwards sat next to one another on one side, but Sitala was sandwiched in between Laura and Carrie. Laura and Carrie seemed to take quickly to Sitala.

Dinner consisted of fried chicken, dinner rolls, mashed potatoes, green beans, lemonade for the kids and coffee for the adults.

"Let us bow our heads for the blessing," said Charles.

This caused Sitala to become very uncomfortable. He waited until everyone's heads were bowed and eyes were shut before he raised his own head.

"Thank you lord for this meal and for another good day," said Charles, "And thank you for bringing Sitala into our lives. Amen."

After the prayer ended, Sitala was given a couple of drumsticks, a dinner roll, mashed potatoes and green beans. He also had a cup of lemonade. After that, everyone else was served. Everyone then started digging in and Sitala took a bite of the chicken first.

He finished what he had in his mouth and looked at Caroline, "Wow, this is really good!" he exclaimed.

Caroline beamed with pride when she heard that, "I'm glad you enjoy it," she said, "So Sitala, Charles says you're from Wisconsin."

Sitala nodded his head, "Yeah, I was living in a place called Janesville," he replied, "It's a city located right near the Illinois border in the south central part of Wisconsin. Before then, I lived in a place called Wausau, a city in north central Wisconsin. I was born in Milwaukee, though."

"What year were you born?" asked Charles.

"I was born on June 18th, 1986," said Sitala.

Everyone in the room looked at Sitala strangely.

"Um, did I say something wrong?" asked Sitala.

"Sitala, you're not making any sense at all," said Charles, "It's 1876."

Now Sitala had a panicked look on his face. Did he die when he fell through that floor? Was he in some deep sleep? He was hoping more for the latter. He calmed himself down and continued to eat the food in front of him.

"Maybe if he gets some rest, he'll snap out of it," said Charles.

Carrie was busy playing with her green beans and was making them jump. Caroline didn't approve of that, "Carrie, don't play with your vegetables," she ordered.

"Bad!" shouted Carrie.

This made Sitala relax and actually laugh, "Hahaha, we might have to start calling you Jumpin' Bean," he said.

Mary didn't take kindly to that, "Hey, don't pick on her," she said with a bit of anger in her voice.

"Jumpin' Bean, Yay!" Carrie exclaimed and tossed her hands into the air.

Laura smiled, "I think Carrie likes the nickname, Jumpin' Bean," she said, "Pa calls me Half-Pint."

"Ah, so that's who your dad was referring to when he said I was around your age," said Sitala, "Not a bad nickname."

Laura smiled, "Thank you," she said before turning to Mary, "Mary, why are you so quiet?"

Mary let out a sigh, "I don't know," she replied, "I'm just tired, I guess."

Dinner finished up after ten minutes and everyone was getting tired.

"Well, I best get goin'" said Mr. Edwards, "Thanks for the meal, Charles."

"You're welcome, Isaiah," said Charles.

Mr. Edwards got up and left. After he left, Charles turned to Sitala.

"Sitala, I'll show you where you'll be staying for the night," he said, "In the morning, you'll have you registered for school."

* * *

Charles and Sitala were now in a small little sod house, which consisted of a single bed and a shelf with a kerosene lamp.

"I'll be back in the morning to check on you," said Charles, "You get some rest now."

Charles left the sod house and shut the door behind him. Once he was out of there, Sitala let out a long sigh, "Only porter potties for bathrooms, no electricity and now I'm a 31 year old stuck in a 10 year old's body? Shit, and that's not all. I somehow traveled 142 years into the past. Hopefully I'll wake up back where I belong."

* * *

 **That's it for this episode.**

 **I've been binge watching the Little House TV series for the past couple months, so I started this. I may not be a Christian, but I do like the show.**

 **My OC will be having more things from his time so that the people of Walnut Grove won't think he's crazy.**

 **The reason behind Carrie's nickname was because during the earlier parts of the series, every time I saw her, the name Jumpin' Bean just fits her.**

 **Bye for now.**


	2. Episode 2: A Rough Fit

**Hello all, midnightrebellion86 here.**

 **Episode Summary: Charles brings Sitala to Oleson's Mercantile to buy him some school supplies, but things turn ugly when Mrs. Oleson is less than pleased with Sitala being in her store. Things don't get better the kids all laugh at Sitala during his first day at school when he forgets he's in the past and gets laughed at by the class for stating something that hasn't occurred yet. They also make fun of him because of his eyes jumping around and his visual impairment.**

* * *

 **'Queue Little House on the Prairie TV Show opening song'**

 **Charles Ingalls is seen plowing his fields using his main horse.**

 **The scene turns to Caroline Ingalls gathering water from the creek using two wooden buckets.**

 **The next scene consists of Laura and Mary Ingalls racing through the grass.**

 **The music changes to a low toned sinister beat as Sitala and Carrie run from Oleson's Mercantile with an angry Mrs. Oleson in hot pursuit with a wooden strap.**

 **'The music ends with Mrs. Oleson running out of breath and unable to catch the two kids.'**

* * *

 **Episode 2: A Rough Fit**

The morning sun rays beamed through the small windows of the sod house and onto the face of Sitala. The morning heat from the eastern sun caused the boy's eyes to slowly open up. When his vision cleared up, he checked his surroundings and touched his face, then he frowned in disappointment, "I'm still stuck in this time," he said to himself.

The rooster doing his morning wake up call, but more importantly, a dog was outside the door barking nonstop.

Sitala pulled the covers off of him, got out of the bed and made his way to the door and slowly opened it. Sitting outside the door was a little shaggy dog with very light yellowish brown thick fur. He was wagging his tail and staring at Sitala.

Sitala, being a dog lover, knelt down and began to pet the dog, "Hey, buddy," he greeted, "Wanna come in?"

The boy let the dog into the sod house and shut the door behind him. The dog began sniffing the boy's hand for a bit before making his way to the corner and curling up in a ball.

* * *

Charles and Caroline were now up and the former made his way towards the latter leading to the loft, while Caroline made her way to Carrie's room to wake her up.

"Girls, wake up!" Charles shouted.

Movement was heard coming from upstairs and after about a few minutes, both Laura and Mary came downstairs still in their white nightgowns and sleeping hats.

"Morning Pa!" Laura greeted cheerfully.

"Morning Pa!" Mary greeted just as cheerfully as her sister.

A still sleepy Carrie made her way into the living room where her sisters and her Pa were currently at. Charles smiled at his youngest daughter and picked her up, "Morning, little one," he said as he kissed her on the forehead, "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes," Carrie replied in her wee voice.

Caroline walked into the living room and she made her way towards the kitchen counter before turning to the others, "I'm going to get breakfast started," she stated, "I need one of you to go gather the eggs and the other to go wake up Sitala."

"I'll gather the eggs," said Mary.

"I'll go get Sitala," said Laura.

* * *

Sitala was petting the dog as he wagged his tail happily. He had changed into a simple t-shirt and blue jeans as he went through his bag and noticed that he had all the stuff he had prior to ending up where he was now, including all his portable electronics, a package of pens and some paper.

Due to still being skeptical about being in the past, he took out his Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and powered it on, and to his shock, it worked. When the screen powered on and was fully booted, unfortunately, there was no phone or 4G signal, "Damn, this is going to be hell not having access to the internet," he said as he looked and saw that his battery was still quite high and was at 96%, "Thank goodness I have a solar powered charger for my stuff, that I don't need to plug anything in."

Sitala was about to go to one of the apps on his phone, but there was a knock at the door, which caused him to quickly shut it off and hide it in his bag, "It's open," he said as he made sure that none of the things from his time were out of sight.

The door opened and Laura entered the sod house, "Good morning, Sitala," she greeted kindly, "How did you sleep last night?"

Sitala looked up and saw that Laura had her hair down instead of in braided pigtails, "I slept pretty good," he replied.

Laura smiled and then she spotted the dog. He looked up happily at Laura as he continued to wag his tail, "I see you met Jack," she said.

This cleared up the question for Sitala, "Ah, so he's your dog?" he asked, "I woke up to him standing outside the door barking. He didn't have a collar, so I thought he was a stray."

Laura let out a light laugh, "Come on, Ma's making breakfast and asked me to come get you," she said, "She makes really good pancakes."

Sitala's stomach growled at the thought of food. He laughed himself and quietly nooded before he and Jack followed Laura out of the sod house and he shut the door behind him.

* * *

Everyone was now at the table again. The prayer over the food had already been said and everyone's plates consisted of eggs, bacon and pancakes with homemade churned butter and homemade jelly.

Sitala, like last night, was very impressed with the cooking of Caroline Ingalls.

Caroline looked in Sitala's direction to address him, "Sitala, I never got around to asking you last night, so now's good as any," she started, "How much schooling have you completed?"

Sitala swallowed what he had in his mouth, "I've completed school," he replied, "I completed all the way through 12th grade."

This answer didn't sit well with Charles and Caroline, with the former giving Sitala a stern look, "Young man, I let it slide yesterday when you came here, but I will not tolerate lying in this house," he said in a very stern tone, "Now my wife asked you a question, and I want an honest answer out of you."

Sitala was now getting frustrated with Charles. He wasn't lying to Mrs. Ingalls, but at the same time, he would be lying if he had told her anything else.

All eyes were on Sitala as everyone awaited his reply. The lack of reply didn't sit well with Charles, "Boy, I'm waiting for an answer," he said in a slightly louder tone.

Sitala let out a long sigh and finally gave an answer, "Sir, I'm telling you the truth," he said as calmly as he could.

Charles still wasn't buying Sitala's answer, "You liste-" he was cut off.

"Charles, go for a walk," Caroline said in a calm tone, "Let me handle this."

Charles took a deep breath, stood up from his spot at the table and made his way to the door before opening it and walking out of the house and shutting it behind him.

Once Charles was out of the house, Caroline turned her attention to Sitala, "I'll give you a little quiz," she said, "The first question will be an arithmetic one."

"Okay," said Sitala.

"I go to the store with $8.00 and I buy three items and my total comes to $4.87," Caroline said, "How much would I get back in change?"

"You would get back $3.13," Sitala replied quickly.

Caroline couldn't help but smile, "That's very great," she said, "Here's a harder one. While at the store, I see an item for .70. I purchase the item then go to the bank to deposit the remaining balance into my account, which has $12.79 before the deposit. How much would I have in my bank account afterwards?"

"You would have $15.22," Sitala replied after thinking it over in his head for a little bit.

"That's correct," said Caroline, "I'm impressed."

Caroline got up and grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper and handed it to Sitala.

"Can I see you write your name?" Caroline asked.

Sitala took the pencil and due to his poor eyesight, looked really close to the paper before writing down his name. When he was done, he slid the paper back to Caroline.

Caroline gave a satisfactory smile, "Okay, I do believe you have had schooling," she said, "But I will ask that you attend school. I ask this of you because you do look like a 10 year old boy, and no one will believe that you're an adult."

Out of the two, Caroline was the easiest to talk to. She gave him a chance to prove that he could write and solve math problems, "Okay, I'll go," he asid, "I am rusty when it comes to school, anyways."

Caroline smiled, "Thank you, Sitala," she said, "Now finish your breakfast. I'll let Charles know that you'll be going to school."

Sitala resumed eating his breakfast as Laura smiled at him. Mary didn't seem so impressed and gave him a bitter look.

Once breakfast was done, Caroline asked the girls and Sitala to clean their teeth. They each got a piece of dried up bread to scrub their teeth with, which caused Sitala to give the woman a funny look, "Mrs. Ingalls, what is this for?" he asked.

"It's for cleaning your teeth," Laura answered for her mother, "Here, look!"

Laura opened her mouth and began using the piece of hard bread to scrub her teeth. Sitala wasn't accustomed to this way of dental hygiene, and there was no way he was going to brush his teeth with an old piece of bread, "Oh, I just remembered, I forgot to make my bed," he lied, "I'll clean my teeth on the way."

Caroline looked at Sitala, "Alright, but please remember to make your bed next time," she said.

"Yes ma'am," said Sitala before running out of the house.

* * *

While running to the sod house, Sitala threw the old piece of bread before entering the structure and shut the door behind him. He went to his bag and grabbed his toothbrush, a tube of Aquafresh toothpaste, a square container of dental floss, a bottle of mouthwash, a bottle of water for rinsing and a little tin bowl.

Sitala twisted the cap off the toothpaste tube and squeezed some of the red white and blue past onto his toothbrush before he began brushing his teeth. Once he finished brushing his teeth, he spat the now used paste into the corner behind the bed. He then opened up the dental floss, grabbed some of the string before severing it and flossed in between his teeth. Once that was done, he rinsed his mouth out with the mouthwash, and like the toothpaste, he spat it in the corner and out of sight. Lastly, he opened up the water bottle, poured some into the container before using it to clean the toothpaste off of his face and to get the paste off of his toothbrush. Once done, he put the items back.

After brushing his teeth, he went back into his bag and grabbed a can of vanilla coke and a bag of trail mix and put them into his large pockets before leaving the sod house after making sure his bed was made and other items were out of sight.

* * *

Charles was now calm and he had returned to the house. Mary had gathered all the eggs and Laura was now dressed and ready for school and her hair was in the pigtails once again.

Charles turned to Sitala, "Caroline told me you're willing to go to school," he said, "So I'm going to take you into town and get you a slate, a tablet and a pencil. You can repay me by cleaning the barn and the chicken coop after school."

"Okay," Sitala replied flatly.

Charles turned to his wife, "Caroline, I'm going to take Sitala to the mercantile and then get him registered for school," he said before turning to both Mary and Laura, "And you two, I want you to help Sitala out in school any way you can."

"Yes, Pa," both girls said in unison.

Charles kissed his wife goodbye before doing the same for Carrie, "Okay girls, have a good day at school," he said, "I love you."

"See you at school, Sitala," said Laura.

"Bye Sitawa," Carrie said, mispronouncing the name.

Sitala smiled, "See ya, Jumpin' Bean," he said.

* * *

Charles and Sitala entered a storefront that doubled as a home. Sitala looked around and he was surprised at how small the place was. He looked at the prices on everything and was shocked at the cost, 'Wow, everything's so cheap here,' he thought to himself.

Standing on the other side of the counter was a Caucasian man with thinning brown hair and brown eyes. He had a gentle demeanor to him, "Good morning, Mr. Ingalls," he greeted kindly before turning his attention to Sitala, "And who might you be, young man?"

"Good morning, Mr. Oleson," Charles greeted back, "And this is Sitala McLaurin. Me and Mr. Edwards found him passed out just five minutes in the middle of an open area from my place yesterday afternoon."

"Ah, well it's nice to meet you, Sitala," said Mr. Oleson before he turned his attention back to Charles, "So Charles, what can I get for you today?"

"Actually, I'm here to get a tablet, a pencil and a slate for the boy," Charles replied.

Before Mr. Oleson could respond, he was interrupted, "Nels, who's out there?!" yelled a shrill female voice coming from the back.

Both the faces of Charles and Nels dropped with disappointment at the sound of that voice.

Footsteps were heard and soon, a heavyset Caucasian woman with short brown hair appeared. The woman laid eyes on Sitala, and she immediately had a look of disgust, "Nels, what is he doing in here?!" she demanded.

This didn't sit well with Nels or Charles, but the former was first to speak up, "Harriet, he's just a little boy!" he shouted, "I'm trying to do business here."

Harriet was not one that was going to back down, "You're not doing business with the likes of him!" she shouted back, "I don't care if he was a little three year old. Get him out of my store!"

Charles was fuming mad now, but so was Sitala. He knew back in his time that although people were more tolerant, but discrimination still existed. No way was he going to let this woman mistreat him, "You know what, woman?!" he shouted, "You talk all high and mighty, but in reality, all those sweets you eat made your head so big that parts of your brain started to realign, and in the process, caused you to become stupid."

The store went silent after that. Harriet's mouth hung open in shock after just being told off by a little boy. Charles was stunned, but was also trying not to burst into laughter. Nels' expression was a mix of wanting to either defend his wife or burst out into laughter.

Harriet was the first to recover, though, "How dare you talk to me like that, little boy!" she shouted as her face was as red as a tomato and her eyes were rolling with pure fury, "I ought to take you over my knee and whip you!"

Sitala, still being used to being an adult and not letting people walk all over him, wasn't backing down himself, "You spoiled old woman," he started, "Take your racism and go to the back, powder your diaper and warm yourself up a bottle of milk and take your nap. You may get your way with your husband, but you won't walk all over me."

At this point, both Charles and Nels couldn't hold it in any longer. They both burst into laughter. This just made an already angry Harriet Oleson even more angry, "Don't you dare laugh at me, Nels Oleson!" she shouted before turning to Charles, "And you get him out of my store!"

Charles had gotten over his laughter and looked Harriet straight in the eye, "Fine," he said before turning to Nels, "Talk to you later, Nels."

Sitala and Charles left the store empty handed and they stopped once the reached the bottom of the four steps.

Charles turned to Sitala, "Sitala, normally I'd give you a whipping for talking back to a grown up," he stated, "But I am going to let it slide this time. As for the school supplies, you can ask Mary or Laura to borrow some of theirs. Now let's get you to the school and get you registered."

Sitala followed Charles just up the dirt road and to a white schoolhouse. Sitala was amazed at the site of the structure. During his own timeline, he had only seen one schoolhouse when he was just eight years old when he lived in Milwaukee. Of course, that schoolhouse was abandoned. The other schoolhouses he had seen were pictures online or through YouTube videos. The others were restored and used as museums.

"Sitala, Sitala, Sitala!" Charles yelled three times.

This caused the boy to jump out of his own thoughts, "Oh, sorry," he said.

"You were off in your own world," said Charles, "Are you alright?"

Not wanting to give Charles the impression that he's never been to school before, hid the real reason, "I was just deep in thought," he said, "I guess we should head inside."

Sitala followed Charles up the five steps and into the hallway. The two made a right and walked into a classroom that a total of sixteen benches divided in two rows of eight. Each bench had a space available for students to write on. There was a blackboard to the far left for the students, one in the front of the class behind the teacher's desk and there was a back door in the far left corner.

Several kids were already in the classroom, including one girl with shoulder length curly blonde hair with two white ribbons and blue eyes. She had a snobbish demeanor to her. Sitting next to her was a boy with shaggy dark brown hair. He looked just as snobbish.

Mary and Laura were near the front of the classroom and they waved to their Pa when he entered the classroom.

The teacher was a woman with curly blonde hair and bluish gray eyes shielded by a pair of glasses. She seemed to have a friendly, calm, but strict demeanor.

Charles and Sitala made their way to the front of the classroom and the teacher looked up from her papers, "Mr. Ingalls, how may I help you?" she asked.

"I have a new student here to join your class," Charles replied before turning to Sitala, "The teacher will take care of you from here. I need to get to work."

Charles waved to Mary and Laura before leaving the schoolhouse. Once Charles was out of sight, the teacher turned to Sitala, "Young man, my name is Ms. Beadle," she said kindly, "What's your name?"

"Sitala McLaurin," said Sitala quietly.

"How do you spell it?" Ms. Beadle asked.

"S.I.T.A.L.A M. c. L. A. U. R. I. N." Sitala spelled.

Ms. Beadle wrote the name down in her registration thing and put it in the box. Once she was done, she turned her attention back to Sitala, "Okay, you're all registered," she said before standing up to address the rest of the class, "Okay everyone, we have a new student. Everyone meet Sitala McLaurin."

"Good morning, Sitala McLaurin," the kids all greeted in unison, with some of them clearly not speaking.

"Sitala, care to tell the class where you're from?" asked Ms. Beadle.

"I was born in Milwaukee Wisconsin, but come here from Janesville Wisconsin," said Sitala.

* * *

Caroline was walking across the bridge and into town with Carrie in tow and a basket of eggs in the other hand.

The mother of three reached Oleson's Mercantile and she entered the store where Nels Oleson was standing behind the counter, "Good morning, Mrs. Ingalls," he greeted before turning to Carrie, "And good morning to you, Carrie."

"Good morning Mr. Oleson," Carrie greeted.

"Good morning Mr. Oleson," Caroline echoed her daughter's greeting.

Caroline made her way to the counter and placed the basket of eggs onto the counter top.

"I have a dozen and a half eggs today," said Caroline.

Before Nels could say anything, Harriet didn't miss a beat as she made her way to the counter, "Good morning, Mrs. Ingalls," she greeted sweetly with her voice laced completely in sarcasm, "I see you've brought eggs."

Harriet gave the eighteen eggs a thorough look and she wasn't impressed.

"You only have four white eggs and fourteen brown eggs," the heavyset woman scoffed, "I think I'll be paying you ten cents less today."

This obviously didn't sit well with Caroline, who quickly snatched up her basket of eggs, "Then I will gladly sell these eggs to Mr. Hanson," she said with a bit of anger in her voice, "Good day, Mrs. Oleson."

Before Caroline could leave, Mrs. Oleson wasn't finished, "And tell your husband to teach that black boy some manners!" she shouted.

This statement caused Caroline to pause in her tracks. She turned around and had a look of curiosity on her face, "Excuse me, Mrs. Oleson, my husband is a very good judge of a person's character," she said, defending her husband, "And with the way you treat people, I wouldn't be surprised if you were the one that started the incident."

"The nerve of that boy, raising his voice at me," Harriet complained, "It is store policy that the owners reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason. I was well within my rights."

Caroline turned to Nels, "Mr. Oleson, my husband will be back to pay what ever we owe the store at a later date and to close our account," she stated as calmly as she could, "Good day."

* * *

Back at school, Ms. Beadle was currently giving a history lesson and asking questions. She first turned to the snobbish blonde haired girl known as Nellie Oleson, "Nellie what did Minnesota become a state?" she asked.

Nellie stood up with all the confidence in the world, "The state of Minnesota was admitted into the union on May 11th 1858," she replied before sitting down.

"That's correct, Nellie," Ms. Beadle said before turning ot Sitala, "Sitala, can you tell us how many states there are in the union and the latest one admitted, please?"

All eyes turned to Sitala as he stood up to answer Ms. Beadle's question, "There are currently fifty states admitted with the latest being Hawaii, which was admitted on August 21st, 1959," he said.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" all the kids laughed at Sitala for the answer he gave, which confused him.

"Class, knock it off, right now!" she shouted as she slammed her ruler against the top of her desk. The laughter immediately stopped before Ms. Beadle turned her attention back to Sitala, "Sitala, I'm sorry. There are currently thirty eight states admitted to the union with the latest being Colorado. I'll give you another chance. Can you tell us who the current president of the United States is, and what number president he is?"

"The current president of the United States is Donald Trump, and he is the forty fifth president," Sitala answered.

"Hahahahahaha!" the class laughed again.

Ms. Beadle slammed her ruler against the desk again, "Class, if you laugh at another student one more time, there will be no nooning today," she said.

The entire class went silent at the thought of their nooning being taken away from them. An embarrassed and frustrated Sitala took his seat and let out a long sigh.

"I'm sorry, Sitala," said Ms. Beadle as she looked at her watch, "I think we've had enough history for today. It's recess time."

* * *

All the kids were outside for recess. Nellie was leading a game of Ring Around the Rosie. Willie and a few of the other boys were playing a game of ball and two of the kids were playing on the seesaw.

Sitala, not finding any of the games interesting, decided to sit against the side of the schoolhouse away from all the kids shouting and playing. He was about to go into his pocket and grab his bag of trail mix and soda, but he was approached by Mary and Laura. To Sitala's surprise, Mary was the one that spoke to him, "Hi, Sitala," she greeted flatly, "Can we join you?"

Sitala looked up at the blonde haired girl, "Yeah," he replied.

Mary and Laura both sat down next to Sitala and pulled out an apple jelly sandwich, "I'm sorry I've been quiet around you and wasn't friendly with you since you came to us," she said.

"Why were you like that towards me?" asked Sitala.

Mary took a deep breath, "Well, when Pa was doing the blessing during supper, I noticed that you didn't bow your head in prayer, same as last night," she answered.

Hearing this made Sitala not like Mary very much. He had been rejected for much of his life for not being a Christian, and there was no way he was going to change to make anyone happy. He stood up from where he was sitting, "I'm going for a walk," he said.

Laura, sensing that something was wrong, stood up herself, "Sitala, wait up!" she shouted as she ran after him, "Sitala, wait!"

Sitala just ignored Laura. He made his way over to where the other kids were playing, and he saw Willie being picked on by his big sister, Nellie. Growing up as a baby sibling and being mistreated by older siblings himself, decided to try and make friends with Willie. He walked over to the boy, "Hey, Willie," he greeted.

Willie looked up and gave Sitala a mean look, "What do you want, jumpy eyes?" he taunted.

Sitala, already in a bad mood from the kids laughing at him in class during history, but also because he had to get close to the board to read stuff and because of his eyes jumping all over the place, was not going to take it anymore, "I was just trying to be your friend, you ungrateful asshole!" he shouted, "But now you can fucking kiss my ass. Let your sister push you around like the little bitch you are."

The rest of the schoolchildren took notice to what was going on, including Laura and Mary.

Sitala was blindsided when Nellie shoved him hard, but not hard enough to knock him to the ground, "Don't talk to my brother like that, you no mannered darky!" she shouted.

If Sitala wasn't angry before, then the word angry would be huge understatement. He was going to really let Nellie have it, "Nellie, Willie, get away from that boy!" Mrs. Oleson shouted from down the street as she ran towards the schoolyard. When she reached the schoolyard, she got right in Sitala's face, "What are you doing fighting with my Willie and Nellie?" she demanded, "And what is your name?"

All the kids were watching what was going on.

Sitala, who was still very angry, decided to redirect his rage towards Mrs. Oleson, "That's none of your damn business what my name is!" he shouted.

Mrs. Oleson grabbed Sitala by the arm, "You're coming with me!" she shouted.

Sitala snatched his arm away from Harriet, "Don't fucking touch me!" he shouted back, "You get out of my damn face. Your breath smells so bad, it makes me wonder if you stick your tongue in a horse's ass. You're a bad smelling miserable racist cow that just harasses people."

All the schoolchildren's mouths hung open in shock at what Sitala was saying to Mrs. Oleson. Mrs. Oleson herself was shocked, but also very angry. She turned to her two kids, "Nellie, Willie, we're going home," she said angrily before looking at Sitala one more time, "And I will see to it you're removed from this school, boy."

Mrs. Oleson, Nellie and Willie then left the schoolyard, leaving a still stunned group of kids.

* * *

Mr. Oleson had just finished a transaction with a customer and Harriet angrily stormed into the store with both Nellie and Willie in tow, "Harriet, why are the kids not at school?" he asked.

"They're not at school because that darky boy was fighting with my Willie," said Harriet, "And when I came to stop the fight, he cussed me like a maniac! I will not have my children going to that school with that boy!"

"The same boy that came in here this morning for school supplies?" asked Nels, "The same boy you denied service to and told him he wasn't welcomed in here when he hadn't even done anything to you?"

Harriet was very upset now, "How dare you side with that darky over me!" she shouted before turning to her two children, "You both grab a handful of candy and head to your rooms. Your father and I are going to have a talk."

* * *

School had let out and the kids began either going home or headed to the mercantile to buy candy.

For Sitala, he had to rely on Laura and Mary to get back to their house, due to know knowing the way back.

Ever since the incident at recess, Laura had become distant and wasn't saying anything to Sitala.

Because of this change in behavior, a lot of negative emotions began to creep into Sitala's head.

The walk home from school seemed like forever. There was a part of him that hoped that Laura would say something to him, but that never happened. Before he knew it, the trio were back on at the Ingalls residence.

Mary and Laura entered the house without even saying anything. He knew that their parents were inside.

Sure enough, they were greeted by their Ma and Pa. Sitala decided to easedrop.

"Laura, Mary, how was school today?" Charles asked as Sitala listened from the other side, "Where's Sitala?"

"I don't know, Pa," Laura lied in a low tone, "School was alright."

"School was fine until that heathen started going crazy at recess!" Mary exclaimed angrily, "I hope I never see him again!"

Hearing Mary refer to him like that actually hurt. He felt a pang of rejection in his heart. One thing about Sitala, he could handle physical pain with no problem, but despite being a male, he was very sensitive. Now feeling unwanted in the Ingalls home, he knew he would need to find someone else to go. So he ran to the sod house and opened the door and fortunately for him, he hadn't unpacked anything. He decided to leave a note, so he took out a sheet of paper he had and one of his pens. He wrote a note and after he was done, he folded it and placed it on the bed. After that, he put his pen away, zipped up his bag and did a once over to make sure he had all his belongings before leaving the sod house for the last time.

* * *

There was tension in the air at the Ingalls house. Charles and Caroline didn't know what they were going to do about Sitala. Charles had told Caroline about what happened at the mercantile, but Laura had basically turned on Sitala after what happened at recess.

"Girls, I'm going to go get Sitala, and we're going to get his side of the story," said Charles, "Caroline, I want you to come with me. You two watch the house."

"Yes, Pa," they both said in unison.

"When will Sitawa be back?" Carrie asked in her wee voice.

Neither Laura nor Mary knew how to answer their baby sister. Carrie had only seen Sitala's good side. She hadn't been there at school when he went off on Willie and his mother, Harriet.

The silence was broken when both Caroline and Charles reentered the house with a note in hand. There was a mix of concern and anger on Charles' face.

Laura turned to her Pa, "What is it, Pa?" she asked.

Charles unfolded the note and began reading it out loud.

 **Letter Start:**

 _Dear Ingalls Family,_

 _I am letting you know that I can't stay here any longer. When I got back from school, I overheard the family talking and realized that I'm not wanted here. I thought I would be accepted for who I am, but I was wrong. Therefore, I will be going to stay with Mr. Edwards, since he's the only other person here I met._

 _I have my own writing stuff, and I was going to tell you this morning, but I knew you were in a hurry and I just didn't think to tell you in time._

 _Mrs. Ingalls, I thank you for the great dinner and breakfast and saving me from being yelled at this morning at breakfast._

 _P.S: I will be fine when I find where Mr. Edwards lives. Tell Jumpin' Bean to be good and please don't tell Laura and Mary to apologize to me or be nice to me. I want people in my life that will be good to me because they want to, not because they feel they have to be._

 **Letter End:**

Both Mary and Laura had looks of guilt on their faces. They both looked like they were about to cry. For Laura, she really did enjoy Sitala's company. As for Mary, she wasn't fair to him from the get go.

"Ma, Pa, I need to find him," said Mary, "This is all my fault."

"I want to help find him, too," Laura added.

"We'll all find him," said Caroline, "After I make a big dinner."

"You, Mary and Carrie will be spending the night at Mr. Edwards' place tonight," said Charles, "I want you to pack a change of clothes and your school stuff. Me and your Ma are going to go into town and handle business with the Olesons and Ms. Beadle."

* * *

Sitala remembered the other tire and horse tracks from yesterday, and he used those to search for Mr. Edwards' place. Fortunately for him, he was getting rather close to a cabin that seemed to be occupied. He let a bigger sigh of relief when he heard the man he was looking for singing as he got closer.

"Old Dan Tucker was a fine old man He washed his face in the frying pan He combed his hair with a wagon wheel And died of the toothache in his heel Get out the way for old Dan Tucker He's too late to git his supper Supper's over and dishes washed Nothing left but a piece of squash," Mr. Edwards sang, " Old Dan Tucker went to town Riding a mule and leading a hound Hound barked and mule jumped Threw old Dan right over a stump I come to town the other night I hear the noise and saw the fight The watchman was arunning around Crying "Old Dan Tucker's come to Town" Old Dan he went down to the mill To get some meal to put in the swill The miller swore by the point of his knife He never see'd such a man in his life Tucker is a nice old man He used to ride our darby ram He sent him whizzin' down the hill If he hadn't got up, he'd lay there still Old Dan begun in early life To play the bango and the fife He play the children all to sleep And then into his bunk he'd creep."

Sitala saw that Mr. Edwards was washing his face by a barrel placed behind the cabin, "That's an interesting song," he said.

Mr. Edwards was startled and he dropped his wash rag, "Boy, are ya tryin' to give me a heart attack?!" he nearly shouted, "What're you doin' here?"

"Well, things didn't quite work out at the Ingalls, so I was wondering if I could stay with you?" asked Sitala.

Mr. Edwards being close friends with the Ingalls family, didn't respond right away. But after a moment of thinking, he spoke, "First off, if you're gonna stay here, you're gonna have to earn ya keep," he said, "Do ya know how to chop wood?"

Sitala shook his head, "No, but I can learn if you teach me how," he replied, "So is that a yes?"

Mr. Edwards scratched his thick dark brown beard before responding, "Well, I'll have to ask Charles what happened with you first, but I reckon you can stay for the night," he said.

"Mr. Edwards!" Laura's voice came shouting from the distance.

This caused Mr. Edwards to get startled for a second time, "Half-Pint?" he asked in a low tone before turning back to Sitala, "Come on."

"I probably forgot something," said Sitala in a disinterested tone.

The two walked to the front of the cabin where Mary, Laura and Carrie were standing. Mary was holding a bag and a huge basket. Laura was holding both hers and Carrie's bags.

"Half-Pint, what are you, Carrie and Mary doin' here?" asked Mr. Edwards.

"Ma and Pa had some things to take care of and asked us to spend the night here," said Mary, "We brought some fried chicken, biscuits, beef stew and a raspberry pie for dessert."

Even though Sitala wasn't happy with the Ingalls girls showing up, he couldn't help it that his mouth was watering at the sound of the food, and it smelled good, too.

"Um, Mr. Edwards, can me and Laura talk to Sitala alone, please?" Mary asked, "It's really important."

Mr. Edwards looked at Sitala and then back at the girls, "Yeah, I'll just take Carrie inside," he said before turning to Carrie, "Come on, Carrie."

Carrie ran over to Mr. Edwards and he picked her up and brought her into the cabin, leaving Sitala alone with both Laura and Mary.

Sitala was about to follow Mr. Edwards into the cabin, but he was stopped, "Sitala, wait," said Mary, "Sit down."

Sitala weighed his options. On one hand, he didn't care what Mary or Laura had to say, but on the other hand, he was stuck 142 years in the past, and had no idea on how to get back to his own time. He sighed and took a seat on a tree stump.

"Look, before you say anything, it was my idea to come looking for you," said Mary, "We read your note and how you don't want people being told to be nice to you. I know I said it at recess, but then I was only saying it because like you said, I was told to be nice. So now I say it now from a position of wanting to, I'm sorry for not being very welcoming, and I'm sorry for laughing at you in class today."

Before Sitala could say anything, Laura spoke next, "I'm also sorry for laughing at you in class," she said as tears started to form in her eyes, "And I'm sorry for not being a friend to you after you had a bad day at school. I won't ever do something like that again."

"I would like to give you that fair chance I didn't give you before," said Mary, "Can we be friends?"

Sitala thought about it for a bit before responding, "On one condition," he said.

"What would that be?" asked Mary.

"You let me explain the way I believe and what happened to me today that you didn't witness," said Sitala.

"Deal," said Mary.

"Well, your dad took me to Oleson's Mercantile to get school supplies, but Harriet came from the back and demanded that I leave the store," Sitala started, "I told her off without cussing at her, and she didn't like it. She threatened to take me over her knee and whip me, so I told her off some more. Your dad didn't like the way I was being treated, so we left empty handed. When we were outside, he told me that he'd let it slide this time."

Laura, now also interested, spoke next, "Then what happened?" she asked.

"Well, after I got up to go for my 'walk' during recess, I saw Nellie picking on her brother Willie," said Sitala, "So I went over to see if he was alright, due to me being a baby sibling that wasn't close to my older siblings at all. I was just trying to be his friend, and he had the guts to call me jumpy eyes. I was already in a bad mood, so that's when the cussing started. The rest, you both already know."

Sitala took a deep breath.

"And as far as how I believe, well I don't believe in God," said Sitala, "But that doesn't mean I have bad morals. I'm good to those that are good to me, and like you witnessed today during recess, I'm not mean to people unless they're mean to me first. I don't steal, and I believe in hard work, so as long as I'm getting back what I put in. I find it to be very sad when people with separate beliefs or lack of beliefs can't get along. Too many times have I seen someone fall in love with someone of a different religion, only to be heartbroken, due to the parents not approving. So me, it's all about how you treat people, and I prefer to treat people good and I expect the same in return."

Sitala took another breath.

"So now that you've heard me out, yes, I forgive you, and yes, we can be friends," said Sitala, "If you still want to, that is."

Things got silent, but after thirty seconds of silence, both Mary and Laura gave Sitala a bone crushing group hug.

"I'd love to be your friend, Sitala," said Mary, "Now come on, this food is going to get cold."

* * *

After a fun night at the Edwards house, Sitala, Laura and Mary walked to school together, this time as great friends after dropping Carrie off back home.

They reached the schoolhouse and entered the classroom, where they were met by Nellie, "Oh look, it's the darky," she said, "My mother will be here with the rest of the school board to ban you."

Before Sitala could go off on her, both Mary and Laura both made their way to the front of the classroom, "No, Nellie, if anyone should be punished, its all of us," said Mary, "Me, my sister and all of us just laughed at Sitala yesterday during the history leson when he had already gotten off to a rough start to his day."

Nellie wasn't moved by what Mary said, "Oh, boohoo," she taunted, "He doesn't belong here. My mother was just doing her job."

"No, Nellie," said Mary, "What your mother was doing was throwing her weight around like she always does. She met someone that wasn't going to let her walk all over him, and she didn't like it. And Willie, you should be ashamed of yourself. While I was not being a good friend to Sitala, he came to you when you were being pushed around by Nellie to offer you his friendship. And all you did was throw it back in his face. So bring the school board. Cause if you kick Sitala out, then so do i."

"I also go," said Laura, "Sitala's my friend. He may be a rough fit, but he's our rough fit."

"And so do I," said Ms. Beadle before facing the class, "In light of all this, I'm assigning a writing assignment for all grades. You will all write about what this experience has taught you."

The school day went by smoothly. Nellie never got her way with getting Sitala expelled. During recess, Willie apologized and he and Sitala were began to form a friendship.

* * *

 **That's it for this episode.**

 **Bye for now.**


	3. Episode 3: Dream of a Round House

**Hello all, midnightrebellion86 here.**

 **Episode Summary: Ms. Beadle gives the class a writing assignment on what they want to do when they become adults. Mr. Edwards and Grace Snider's budding romance takes a heavy hit when the former tells her he doesn't believe in God. Sitala overhears what's going on and develops a strong hatred towards the Widow Snider, and also causes tension between Sitala and Isaiah. Sitala storms off, and while out walking, he meets an elderly woman with a crow that can talk like a parrot.**

* * *

 **'Queue Little House on the Prairie TV Show opening song'**

 **Charles Ingalls is seen plowing his fields using his main horse.**

 **The scene turns to Caroline Ingalls gathering water from the creek using two wooden buckets.**

 **The next scene consists of Laura and Mary Ingalls racing through the grass.**

 **The music changes to a low toned sinister beat as Sitala and Carrie run from Oleson's Mercantile with an angry Mrs. Oleson in hot pursuit with a wooden strap.**

 **'The music ends with Mrs. Oleson running out of breath and unable to catch the two kids.'**

* * *

 **Episode 3: Dream of a Round House**

* * *

The school kids were playing in the schoolyard before school started for the day. Ms. Beadle made her way outside holding a small bell in her hand. She stood at the top of the steps and began ringing the bell, "Children, time for school!" she exclaimed before making her way back inside the schoolhouse.

All the kids stopped what they were doing and ran towards the schoolhouse.

* * *

Everyone had taken their seats and Ms. Beadle stood at the head of the class. She cleared her throat before speaking, "Class, we're going to do something a little different for your writing assignment today," she stated, "For all grades, your assignment is to write an essay on what want to be when you leave this school and become men and women of the community."

Once Ms. Beadle finished her statement, Willie raised his hand.

"Willie, what's your question?" asked Ms. Beadle.

Willie stood up and had a mischievous grin on his face, "When I grow up, I want to close down all the schools and allow kids to eat candy for breakfast, lunch and dinner," he said, "Do I get an A?"

The whole class laughed at Willie's statement.

Ms. Beadle didn't find the statement very funny, and she frowned at Willie and pointed towards the northwest corner that had the back exit, "Willie, go stand in the corner," she said in a stern tone.

"Yes ma'am," he said in a low tone before making his way to the corner.

Once Willie was in the corner with his back facing the class, Ms. Beadle continued what she was saying, "These essays will be due tomorrow," she said, "I expect each essay to be one page long."

* * *

It was recess time and Sitala was sitting by himself, not wanting to play any of the games. He had out a bag of trail mix, which was his lunch. Ever since leaving the Ingalls's sod house and moving into Mr. Edwards' place, he began to really dig into the food he had brought with him from his own time, and fortunately for him, his solar powered stuff actually worked, keeping certain things fresh and cold.

Laura and Mary made their way over to Sitala and joined him, "Hi Sitala," Laura greeted before sitting down.

"Hi Sitala," said Mary before sitting down next to her sister, "So what are you gonna write about for your essay?"

While Sitala was picking the almonds out of his trail mix, starting a pile, he looked at Mary, "I really don't know," he said, "It's just my luck that we get assigned something like this."

Laura looked at Sitala and had a suggestion, "Why not write about what you wanted to be when you were a kid before," she suggested, "I'm sure Ms. Beadle would love it."

This suggestion actually stunned Sitala. It had been two and a half weeks since being found by Charles Ingalls and Isaiah Edwards in that field. Due to none of the adults believing that he was actually an adult himself, he had resorted to not saying much. It made it hard for him to honestly answer certain questions. But here was Laura suggesting that he write about his original dreams, "Wait, you actually believe me about being from the future?!" he asked with a bit of excitement in his voice as he picked a few more almonds out of his bag of trail mix.

Laura turned to her friend and smiled, "Of course I do!" she exclaimed, "I know our Ma and Pa told you not to talk about being from the future in our house, but they never said anything about during the school day."

Mary also smiled, "I believe you too, Sitala," she said and started to pay attention to the growing pile of almonds, "Why are you picking out all the almonds?"

"I'm not a fan of almonds," said Sitala as he finally finished picking the almonds out of his trail mix, "But I do like the regular peanuts and the cashews."

"What are those round colorful things with a white small m on them?" Laura asked.

Sitala wanted to mentally slap himself. He had forgotten all about the candies that also came inside the trail mix he had, 'Well, no sense in lying now,' he thought to himself, "Can you both promise to keep this to yourselves?" he asked.

"Sure," both Mary and Laura said in unison.

"Those colorful round things are called m&m's," said Sitala, "They're a chocolate candy that well, I should say won't be invented until February 28th of 1941. You both can try one if you want."

Both Laura and Mary's eyes lit up with excitement and grabbed a few of the m&ms. They put the candy into their mouths and let the chocolate melt in their mouth.

"Wow, these are good!" Laura exclaimed.

"You can't find these at Oleson's Mercantile!" Mary exclaimed.

Sitala couldn't help but laugh, "I guess that's one positive to not being allowed in that store," he said, "The good thing is that Mr. Oleson is nice, and as long as Harriet doesn't see me, I can get Willie to get me candy after school. I would ask him to bring candy to school, but Nellie would just snitch on me since I'm not allowed to hang out with Willie at school, or any time for that matter."

Everyone finished their lunch and Sitala left the pile of almonds in the grass.

"So, what would be your dream for being a grown up?" asked Laura.

"Well, seeing as it is something that could happen for me now, my dream would be is to live in a unique round house," said Sitala, "Instead of horses, I would raise zebras, have bison for meat instead of the common cattle and I would have a wolf or two as a pet. I would also use exotic milk for cheese and ice cream. Then I would build a greenhouse, so that I can grow crops year round."

Laura's brown eyes were filled with curiosity at what Sitala was saying, "Wow, that's a wonderful dream!" she exclaimed, "I don't know what I want to do when I get older yet."

"I wanna be a schoolteacher like Ma was," Mary added, "I love school and I'm sure I could do a good job with it."

Laura turned to Sitala and changed the subject, "So are you still on for learning how to clean the chicken coop after school?" she asked, "It really isn't that hard."

Sitala knew that Laura would hold him to his word. He let out a sigh, "Yes," he replied flatly.

Both Mary and Laura couldn't help but laugh, "Well if you want supper, you better not back out," said Laura.

"Oh, don't remind me," said Sitala as he gagged a bit.

Mary laughed some more before responding, "Is Mr. Edwards' cooking that bad?" she asked.

"Yes," Sitala replied quickly, "Mr. Edwards is a good man in all, but I swear that whenever he cooks, I can smell Nellie Oleson's breath coming all the way from the mercantile."

"Sitala McLaurin!" Mary lectured in a stern tone.

* * *

Over at Hanson's Mill, Mr. Edwards, Charles and Lars Hanson were each sitting on a stump eating their lunch. Mr. Edwards was munching on a green gamey stew he made from an animal he hunted for the previous night, Charles was eating a cheese sandwich and Mr. Hanson was having himself a piece of beef jerky.

"Charles turned his attention to Mr. Edwards, "Edwards, you seem to be in a good mood lately," he said.

Mr. Edwards let out a chuckle before responding, "Charles, I'm always in a good mood," he replied, "I don't know what you're gettin' at."

Mr. Hanson turned his attention to Mr. Edwards and laughed, "Isaiah, you're lovesick vith the Widow Snider from the Post Office," he said in a German accent, "Vhy don't you just ask her to marry you?"

Mr. Edwards' face turned red frm embarrassment from Lars' teasing, "Oh shut it," he said as he tried keeping a straight face, "W-We're just f-friends. I swear!"

Charles couldn't hold his laughter in and burst into side splitting laughter, which prompted Lars to also laugh at his employee. The two calmed down and just when Charles was going to say something, a Caucasian woman at average height, brown hair tied in a tight bun wearing a white top and a long dark red skirt made her way over to the mill. She was carrying a small light brown basket with a small white blanket over it in one hand and when she reached the mill, she made contact with the three, "Good afternoon, gentleman," she greeted kindly.

Both Charles and Lars got looks on their faces and continued to tease poor Mr. Edwards, "Good afternoon, Grace," Charles greeted with a mischievous grin on his face, "Isaiah here was just telling us he doesn't love you."

Both Charles and Mr. Hanson had a good laugh at Mr. Edwards' expense and Grace gave her beau her signature 'oh really' look, "Well then, Mr. Edwards," she said with a bit of sass in her voice, "I guess you wouldn't want any of this fresh bread I baked last night with some fresh apples."

Mr. Edwards jolted out of his embarrassment after hearing about Grace Snider's fresh bread, "No, Grace, wait!" he pleaded, "Please, I'd like some of that there bread and apples you got!"

Grace let out a small giggle before making her way over to Mr. Edwards before planting a wet kiss on his cheek, "Since you asked so nicely, I'll gladly share my lunch with you, Isaiah," she said before taking a look at the bowl of soup or whatever Mr. Edwards was eating, "And by the looks of the contents in that bowl, you could use some of my lunch."

Mr. Edwards gave Grace a fake hurt expression, but it in all honesty, he knew his strange dishes were not meant to be leftovers, and he eagerly grabbed at the basket, "Why, thank you, Grace!" he exclaimed, but his hand was immediately swatted away.

"Mr. Edwards, you wait for me to hand me to hand you a roll and an apple," she lectured in an authoritative tone.

Charles and Lars were just enjoying the scene in front of them. They both were doing all they could to hold in their laughter at Grace bossing around Isaiah like an eager schoolboy that just got home looking for his afterschool snack.

Grace did eventually give Isaiah two slices of bread and a nice juicy red apple. He immediately began eating the apple and the bread.

The group had decided to change the subject from teasing Mr. Edwards about his love life, "Isaiah, how're thing vorking out vith that boy?" asked Mr. Hanson.

Isaiah swallowed what he had in his mouth and turned to his boss, "Oh, things are workin' out just fine," he replied, "Real good at choppin' up lumber. I can't get 'em to eat my cookin', though. I reckon he'll be by your house after school to earn him a plate like he's been doin'."

Everyone finished lunch and before they went back to work, Isaiah turned towards Grace, "Grace, how 'bout we go fishin' after I'm done today?" he asked.

Grace smiled, "I'd love to," she replied, "And since the boy won't be around, we'll have dinner at your place tonight and I'll cook you up a nice dinner."

* * *

School was now over and the kids were all rushing out of the schoolhouse. Once Nellie was out of sight, Sitala turned towards Willie, "Let's get some of those sour balls your dad got in," he said, "I have a nickel, and know that I can get a handful with that. Then tomorrow I'll bring you some of my candy."

Willie nodded his head, "Okay, come on," he said, "But let's hurry up. If Nellie sees you in the store, she'll snitch to Ma. But if Ma sees you, I'll get it bad for letting you inside."

Sitala had already told Laura and Mary to not wait for him and that he wouldn't be long and would catch up with them. He followed his friend to the mercantile and Willie opened the door, making the bell ring upon entering. Nellie nor Harriet were in sight, so Willie gave the signal for Sitala to enter the store as well. Upon entering the store, Willie made his way towards one of the glass jars containing several colorful sphere like candies.

Just when Willie was about to open up the jar, Mr. Oleson made his way from out of the back storage room. When he saw Willie at the candy jar, he didn't look happy, "Willie, get out of that can-" he stopped what he was saying when he saw that Sitala was standing next to his son. His face softened and he cleared his throat, "Sitala, you know you shouldn't be here," he said in a whisper, "What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to buy some sour balls," Sitala replied, "But I'll leave."

Nels quickly shook his head no, "No, no, no, I'll let you buy the sour balls this time," he said in a whisper and made his way behind the counter to grab a small white paper bag. He grabbed two large fists full of the candy and placed them into the bag, "That will be five cents, please," he said as he shut the bag and folded the top.

Sitala pulled out a nickel and handed it to Mr. Oleson.

"Nels, who's at the door?!" Harriet screamed from the other room.

Nels, knowing that he had to think fast, quickly covered for Sitala, "It's just Willie, Harriet!" he shouted back before turning to Sitala and Willie, "Willie, go get started on your homework."

Willie waved bye to his friend before running upstairs. Once he was out of sight, Nels motioned for Sitala to follow him outside. Once the two were outside, he motioned for the boy to sit down next to him.

Once the two were seated, Nels turned to the boy, "I just want to let you know that I'm very grateful that you wanted to be friends with Willie," he said kindly, "Nellie doesn't always treat him right, and at school, many of those kids only put up with him because he's Nellie's brother. So with that said, I thank you and starting today, I'm lifting your ban on coming to the store. My wife has done some cruel things, but you didn't deserve to be banned without doing wrong."

Sitala couldn't help but smile. Nels was a very decent man, just stuck with a mean she-beast of a woman, "Don't worry, Mr. Oleson," he said, "And thanks for the extra handful of candy. I better go before all the chores are done before I get back to the Ingalls' house."

Sitala stood up and proceeded to leave, but Mr. Oleson called out, "Be sure to share with Laura, Mary and Carrie!" he shouted.

Sitala nodded before finally leaving.

* * *

Laura and Mary had made it home just as their Ma was coming back from the creek with two buckets of water.

"Ma, we're back," Laura greeted.

Caroline looked over to her daughters and noticed that Sitala wasn't with them, "Where's Sitala?" she asked, "It is his turn to clean the coop."

Just before Mary or Laura could respond, Sitala came running onto the property holding a white bag from the mercantile, "Sorry I'm late," he said, "I'll explain at dinner."

* * *

Charles had said the blessing. The menu consisted of beef stew, biscuits, water or milk to drink and strawberry pie for dessert.

Unlike the first time Sitala had joined the Ingalls' for a meal, everyone was on good terms. Sitala was sitting next to Mary, while Laura was sitting next to Carrie. Charles and Caroline sat across from one another at each end of the table.

Carrie was playing happily with her stew and giggling. Sitala took notice to this, "Jumpin' Bean, you won't have any energy by playing with your stew," he laughed.

Carrie looked up from what she was doing and grinned at Sitala. She threw some of the gravy at him, "Yay!" she cheered.

Caroline shook her head and had a serious look on her face, "Carrie, you eat your supper like a good girl," she said firmly, but calmly, "Otherwise you won't get any dessert."

At the mention of not getting dessert, Carrie stopped playing with her food, picked up her spoon and started eating her dinner.

Charles turned his attention to Laura and Mary next, "How was school today?" he asked.

Laura looked up from her food and looked at her Pa, "It was great, Pa," she replied, "Ms. Beadle gave us an essay to write on what we want to do when we get older. The thing is, I don't know what I want to be when I get older, Pa."

Mary turned her attention to her Pa next, "I know what I wanna be, Pa," she stated, "But I don't know how I'm going to come up with much else."

Caroline looked at Mary, "Maybe what you could do is write why you want to become a teacher and what you'd do once you've become one," she suggested.

This made Mary smile, "Thanks Ma, that helps," she said gratefully.

"You're welcome, dear," Caroline replied back before turning her attention to Sitala, "And what are you going to write about, young man?"

Sitala looked over at Caroline, but he didn't get a chance to speak, "He wants to live in a round house, Ma and raise zebras!" Laura exclaimed with an excited look on her face.

This made both Charles and Caroline excited, but there was one thing that needed to be addressed, "Half-Pint, when me or your mother asks someone else something, you don't speak for them," Charles calmly lectured before resuming with eating his dinner.

Laura had a guilty look on her face, "Sorry, Pa," she said in a low flat tone before resuming eating her own dinner.

Satisfied with his daughter's apology, Charles turned his attention back to Sitala, "So you want to raise zebras, ha?" he asked, "Young man, that's one big dream you have."

Sitala nodded, "Well seeing as this is a farming community, it would be nice to do something unique," he said, "In addition to zebras and a round house, I'd raise exotic birds instead of chicken, bison instead of traditional cattle and a greenhouse for growing all different kinds of crops outside of the normal season. With the exotic birds like turkeys and ostrich would be used for eggs and instead of eating chicken, I'd eat duck."

"Land sakes, Sitala," said Charles, "If you can pull that off, I'd be more than happy to drop by and try some of those ostrich eggs."

Sitala smiled, "Well, you let me eat dinner and breakfast here, so sure," he said, "And speaking of being here, would it be alright if I wrote my essay here? I really don't want to head back home while Mr. Edwards is with that lady from the post office."

Charles couldn't help but laugh, "Sure you can stay," he said.

* * *

Grace and Mr. Edwards were finishing up with their dinner and things were going very smoothly with them.

A very smitten Isaiah was also very excited and he loved spending time with her, "Grace, you wanna go fishin' again tomorrow?" he asked looking at the woman.

Grace had an apologetic look on her face and she slowly shook her head no, "I'm sorry, I have some things to do after I'm done at the post office," she stated.

While this was going on, the front door silently opened, letting in a little breeze, which went unnoticed by the two having dinner. The door quickly shut quietly as well.

Isaiah, not one to give up, decided to try again, "Well, what about Saturday?" he asked with a bit of hope in his tone this time.

Grace let out a long sigh, "I'm sorry, I'm busy on Saturday, too," she replied.

"What about Sunday?" Mr. Edwards quickly asked.

This question only caused Grace to become confused, "Sunday?" she asked.

"Yeah, you wanna go fishin' on Sunday?" Isaiah repeated, but noticed that Grace's facial expression showed that she wasn't pleased, "What's wrong?"

"Sunday is the Lord's day," Grace stated with a hint of irritation in her voice, "When were you planning on going fishing, anyway? After church?"

The church part confused Isaiah, "Church?" he asked, "No, we could go in the morning."

Grace was getting increasingly upset at her host, "Isaiah Edwards, what do you mean, no?" she demanded, "I thought we could go to church services together on Sunday."

Mr. Edwards took a deep breath before answering, "What I mean is I don't believe in God," he admitted, "So, you wanna go fishin' on Sunday?"

Grace had a look of disappointment on her face and she shook her head no, "I can't," she said flatly.

Now Mr. Edwards was a bit upset at being shot down, "Why not?" he demanded, "I'm still the same person you met."

Grace sighed before scooting her chair out and standing up, "I'm sorry, Mr. Edwards, but I have to go now," she stated, "I think it's best if we don't see each other any longer."

Grace grabbed her belongings and began making her way towards the door. She gave one last look at the now sad Mr. Edwards before grabbing her bonnet, putting it on and opening the front door where Sitala was standing.

Grace smiled at the boy, "Goodnight, Sitala," she said before leaving.

As Grace was walking away, Sitala glared at the postmistress and gave her two middle fingers. Afterwards, he entered the cabin and shut the door behind him, which caused Mr. Edwards to turn his head, "Hey," he said in a low depressed tone.

Sitala, carrying his completed homework assignment in one hand and leftover stew, biscuits and pie in the other hand, walked over to the table and sat down, "I heard everything from the other side of the door," he admitted, "The day you and Mr. Ingalls found me passed out on that field, you both could've just left me there or been mean to me just for my skin color alone. The way I see it, fuck that bitch if she can't accept you for who you are. You're too good for someone like that."

Sitala was furious. Back when he was in his own time, he had his fair share of situations of being rejected for not being of the Christian faith.

Mr. Edwards didn't know what to say, but he looked at his young houseguest, "Thank you, Sitala," he said with sadness still in his voice, "I'm gonna turn in early tonight."

* * *

Sitala was on his way to school, and he didn't look happy. He was still tired, as he didn't sleep well, due to what happened between Grace and Mr. Edwards last night. Sitala had elected to skip going to the Ingalls' house to do chores and get breakfast before school.

After ten minutes of walking, he made it into town as some of the businesses were opening up. He left extra early, due to Mr. Edwards not being in the mood to talk. He reached the post office, and sure enough, the Widow Snider was there opening up for the day. She heard Sitala and turned her head to greet him, "Good morning, Sitala," she greeted kindly.

Sitala didn't bother turning around to greet her back. He continued towards the mercantile and then the schoolhouse.

Grace didn't appreciate being blown off like she did, "Young man, when an adult says something to you, you answer," she lectured.

This didn't sit well with Sitala. It had been years since he was required to speak to someone he did not want anything to do with, and he was not going to let someone tell him otherwise, "I don't owe you a damn thing, lady," he snapped, "So kiss my ass."

Sitala began running, but Grace's face was as red as a tomato with rage in her eyes, "You get back here, right now!" she ordered, "I ought to wash your mouth out with soap and give you a whipping that will make you want to cut your bottom off!"

Sitala was already out of sight, leaving the postmistress fuming.

* * *

Willie and Nellie were ready for school and were making their way down the stairs, with Nellie out in front. They both ran into the storefront area. Nellie bolted for the candy, seeing as neither Nels nor Harriet were present. Willie wasn't going for any candy, and Nellie quickly took notice. She turned her head towards him with a nosy look on her face, "Willie, why aren't you getting any candy?" she asked, "You're usually the first one down here getting some."

Before Willie could answer, Nels entered the store and he did not look happy when he saw Nellie with her hand in the candy jar, "Nellie, get away from that candy," he ordered.

Nellie didn't listen. Instead she turned to her father with a defiant look in her eyes, "Mother said I could have candy this morning," she said back, "Take it up with her."

This didn't sit well with Nels, "I said get your hand out of the candy!" he shouted, "And your mother went to Sleepy Eye this morning. You will do what I say, young lady. And for your backtalk, you won't be getting any candy afterschool, either."

Nellie put the candy back and got very pouty, "AAARRGGG!" she shrieked and stomped her feet before storming out of the mercantile and on to school.

* * *

Sitala made his way to the mercantile after dealing with Grace at the post office. As he was about to go to the storefront, Nellie came barging out the door in tears stomping her feet, "IT'S NOT FAIR!" she shrieked as she ran towards the schoolhouse.

Not long after Nellie came running out of the store, the door opened again and Willie came out.

Sitala looked at his friend, "Um, what was that all about?" he asked.

Willie tried to hold back a laugh, but couldn't, "My Pa caught Nellie taking candy and told her she couldn't have any," he replied, "Ma is in Sleepy Eye, so Nellie couldn't get her to say yes, she can have candy."

Sitala let out a laugh, "Haha, I would've loved to see that," he admitted, "But speaking of candy, I brought some like I said I would."

The two boys made their way towards the schoolhouse and walked over to a bench near the left side of the schoolhouse by the swings and see-saw. Sitala pulled out his little bag and opened it. There were four different kinds of candy inside the bad. There was a pack of Skittles, a pack of Reese's Pieces, a pack of milk chocolate M&Ms and a pack of Life Savers Gummies.

"Since I promised you I'd bring the candy, and you did help me out yesterday, you get first pick," said Sitala.

Willie got a big grin on his face and didn't know what to pick. The four kinds of candy were not something you'd find in Oleson's Mercantile, due to them not being invented yet.

Nellie, who had gotten over not being allowed to take sourballs to school, looked over from the swing she was swinging on. She angrily rolled her eyes at Sitala and had a look of jealousy written on her face when she saw the candy Willie was being offered. She knew she could bully Willie into getting what she wanted, and what she wanted was candy, "I'll show father," she said in a dark tone before angrily getting up from the swing to make her way over to both Sitala and Willie.

Both Willie and Sitala turned around when they saw Nellie approaching. Willie had a look of fear in his eyes, but Sitala just had a look of annoyance.

"Give me some of that candy, or I'll tell my mother you're hanging around my brother when you're not supposed to," Nellie stated as she folded her arms.

Sitala wanted to cuss Nellie out right then and there, but he knew he could push her buttons another way, "No, Nellie, I'm not breaking any rules," he stated calmly, "I don't answer to your mom. Not only that, your dad lifted my ban on being at the mercantile and lifted the ban on me hanging around your brother at school. And speaking of your dad, he told you that you couldn't have any sourballs this morning, either. This candy is for me and those I consider friends, and I don't consider you a friend. So go snitch on me to your mom. I hope you have fun walking all the way to Sleepy Eye to find her."

"AAAAAHHHHGGGG!" Nellie shrieked as she stormed off back towards the swing.

Sitala had to cover his ears at the sheer shrieking of Nellie, "She's going to bust someone's eardrums with that shriek of hers," he stated.

Willie sighed, "At least you don't have to hear her at the dinner table at night when my Pa lectures her," he said.

Soon, the other kids started coming towards the school, "Hi Willie, hi Sitala!" Laura shouted as she and Mary ran towards the schoolhouse with their schoolbooks and metal lunch pale.

When they reached the schoolhouse, Mary had a look of concern on her face, "We missed you for breakfast this morning," she said with a bit of concern in her voice, "Where were you?"

Sitala, remembering what happened the previous night between Mr. Edwards and the Widow Snider, sighed, "I was just deep in thought and woke up a bit late," he lied, "But I will be there after school, though."

Laura glanced over to Sitala's bag and was curious as to what was inside. Before she could ask, Ms. Beadle made her way outside with a bell in her hand and began ringing it, "Children, it's time for school!" she announced loud enough for all the kids to hear.

* * *

Things were going as usual over at Hanson's Mill. Everyone worked hard for a few hours and were now on lunch break. Unlike the previous day, Mr. Edwards looked miserable and hadn't said all but a few words all day.

Charles turned to his best friend with a concerned look on his face, "Isaiah, you haven't said much all day," he stated, "What's the matter?"

Mr. Edwards let out a long sigh, "Nothin' much," he said flatly, "Just a lot on my mind. I'll be fine."

Charles gave his friend a pat on the shoulder, "Okay, if you say so," he said, knowing there was more to Isaiah being quiet.

Mr. Edwards was about to say something, but Grace began making her way towards the mill, and she did not look happy at all. Grace's angry expression confused both Charles and Isaiah. They looked at one another before shrugging their shoulders.

"Mr. Edwards, I want to know right now what you're going to do about that boy!" Grace demanded, raising her voice.

Charles, being the cooler of the two heads, decided to step in between Grace and Isaiah, "Whoa, now hold up," he said, raising his hand to play peacemaker. He turned to Grace next, "Grace, what are you upset about?"

Grace took a deep breath, but was still clearly upset, "What I'm upset about, Mr. Ingalls is as I was opening up the post office, I see that boy walking along," she started before taking a breath when she felt herself getting upset again, "I greeted that boy, but all he did was cuss me out with his foul mouth."

Charles looked back at his best friend then back to Grace, "Okay, something happened last night between you two," he said, knowing something was wrong between Isaiah and Grace, "What happened?"

Mr. Edwards let out a long sigh and was finally able to speak, "Last night, me and Grace were finishin' up supper, I asked Grace if she wanted to go fishin' with me on Sunday," he said.

"And I told Mr. Edwards that Sunday was the Lord's day," Grace added, "I asked him when on Sunday he wanted to go."

Charles turned to Isaiah awaiting his response to what Grace just said.

"I told her we'd go Sunday mornin' and she got all quiet like," said Mr. Edwards, "She asked me about goin' to church, I told her I didn't believe in God."

"And I then told Mr. Edwards that I had to go, and that it was best we didn't see each other anymore," Grace replied, "And on my way out the door, I saw Sitala standing on the other side."

"Sitala came inside and told me he heard everything, and that I didn't need anyone like her," Mr. Edwards finished.

Charles, now understanding what was going on, spoke next, "He usually comes to our house to do chores before leaving with the girls to school," he stated, "He didn't show up today."

Grace turned to Mr. Edwards, "I want to be certain that something is done, Mr. Edwards," she stated, "Either you do something about him, or I will."

"Okay, okay, I'll talk to him about it," said Mr. Edwards, wanting to get it over with.

"See to it that you do," said Grace as she turned around and began making her way back towards the post office.

* * *

It was now lunch time over at the schoolhouse and several of the kids were playing a game of ring-around-the-rosie.

Laura, Mary, Sitala and Willie were gathered near the swings. Willie had an anxious look on his face, "Okay, it's lunch time now, so where's my candy?" he asked.

Sitala, not liking being rushed, glared at his friend, "If you keep rushing me, I'll just give Laura and Mary theirs first," he replied with a bit of irritation in his voice. He opened his bag and there were the same four choices from this morning, "Go ahead and pick."

Willie stuck his hand in and grabbed the pack of M&Ms. He tore the pack opene and pulled out a few of the circular colored coated chocolates and popped them into his mouth.

Sitala then turned to Laura and Mary, "Okay, you two pick next, and please don't kill each other for the same kind," he said.

"They all look good!" Laura exclaimed, "I don't know which one to pick."

Mary had her eye on the Skittles, "Then I pick the one with the rainbow," she said as she grabbed the Skittles, "I like fruit flavored candy."

Laura, seeing as there were only two choices left, grabbed the Life Savers Gummies, leaving Sitala with the Reese's Pieces. The three opened up their candy and began eating, but Willie had finished his.

"So, what do you guys think of the candy?" Sitala asked.

"I loved the M&Ms!" Willie exclaimed.

Laura had put a red Life Savor gummi on her right ring finger, "If my future husband proposes to me, this would be the best ring ever!" she exclaimed as she ate the red gummi.

Nellie was looking on with a scowl on her face as she was fuming.

* * *

Several hours had passed and Sitala was on his way back home to Mr. Edwards' place after doing after school chores at the Ingalls' house. The day had been going normally for Sitala, save for skipping breakfast at the Ingalls' house.

The Ingalls' had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, biscuits and cookies for dessert. He had fresh leftovers.

Sitala reached the cabin and was eager to hear one of Mr. Edwards' stories from his days in Kansas and living in the mountains. He opened the door and saw Mr. Edwards in the living room with a serious look on his face. This threw Sitala off, seeing as Mr. Edwards was always easygoing, "Mr. Edwards, is something wrong?" he asked.

Mr. Edwards looked at the newcomer with the same serous look, "Close the door and sit down," he said, "I wanna talk to you about somethin'."

Sitala shut the door and made his way over to a chair and sat down.

"Boy, while I was at work today, I heard you said some things to Grace this mornin' on your way to school," said Mr. Edwards, "I wanna know what you said to her."

Mr. Edwards' sudden serious nature stunned Sitala. But he was going to tell the truth about what he said to the woman, "She greeted me and I didn't respond to her initially," he admitted, "And when I didn't, she lectured me. I told her I didn't owe her a damn thing and that she could kiss my ass."

Mr. Edwards sighed, "Well boy, you're going to go over to her house tomorrow mornin' and say you're sorry," he said, "And I will take you there to be sure you do."

This made Sitala mad, "I'm not apologizing to her," he argued back, "She couldn't handle me not returning her greeting. How's that my fault?"

Mr. Edwards got red in the face, "You listen here boy," he raised his voice, "If you're gonna stay here with me, you'll do what I say."

"Fine, if you want to be love struck by her, go right ahead," Sitala yelled back, "You can go curl up and cry when she leaves you the moment she finds something else she doesn't like about you. That's how people like her are. You change one thing to please them, they'll just find something else to nitpick about."

With that, Sitala stood up, grabbed the belongings he came with and made his way out the door, leaving a stunned Mr. Edwards sitting there to take in what he just said.

* * *

A large black crow was perched on the branch of a nearby tree watching patrol over an open field. The field consisted of a makeshift outdoor house with a sleeping back, a fire pit and a barrel for keeping water. To the right of that was a dark brown horse and a buggy. Sitting in the house was a Caucasian elderly woman with light brown graying curly hair and slightly heavyset. She was wearing a light blue long sleeved top and a dark black dress. She seemed to be in a really good mood and was enjoying the sunset.

While she was humming to herself, The crow opened his wings and flew into the air, "Visitor, visitor!" the crow squawked, alerting the elderly woman.

"Hahaha, Polly, a visitor?" she asked grabbing her harpoon, "Or is it another intruder telling me to leave?"

The woman stood up and her good mood quickly faded. She looked on as a figure came into view. He appeared to be a kid and he was carrying several things with him. Seeing as the kid was most likely not a threat, she put down her harpoon.

After what felt like hours, the boy reached the location of the elderly woman. He looked at the elderly woman, "Hey, my name is Sitala McLaurin," he said, "I'm new around here and just got thrown out of the place I was staying at. Would it be alright if I crashed here for the night?"

The elderly woman smiled and was shocked at the kindness of the boy, "It's a pleasure to meet a face not trying to throw me out of my living space," she said, 'The name's Kezia Horn. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sitala."

Sitala entered the makeshift house and sat down on the floor, "Thanks," he said flatly, "Are you hungry?"

This just made Kezia smile, "Well lad, indeed I am," she said.

Sitala then handed the leftover food he got from the Ingalls' house to Kezia, "I already ate and I got that from the people I do chores for," he said.

Kezia took the food, "Thank you, Sitala," she said gratefully and began eating.

The crow flew down and landed on Sitala's arm. He had never seen a tamed crow in his life, and he began stroking the feathers on the crow, "Wow, I've never seen a crow this calm before," he said, "What's his name?"

Kezia swallowed what she had in her mouth first, "His name's Polly," she said before turning to her horse, "And that over there is my horse, Clyde."

Sitala stood up and walked over to Clyde and began petting him.

"So tell me, Sitala, how long have you been in these parts?" Kezia asked.

"A little less than two weeks," said Sitala in a low tone, "Trying to fit in here is annoying."

Kezia now had a concerned look on her face, "What happened, lad?" she asked.

"Well, last night, the man I was staying with was seeing a woman," Sitala said, "I came home when they were ending the relationship, due to differences in religious opinions. It upset me and I ended up hating the woman for it. I saw her on my way to school this morning and I didn't want to greet her, she yelled at me, so I cussed at her."

Sitala took a deep breath.

"Then before I came here and met you, the man I was staying with wanted me to apologize to her, but I didn't want to," said Sitala, "So that's why I left. I just feel that people shouldn't have to change anything about themselves or their lifestyle to be accepted by someone."

"And you feel that just because you don't agree with that woman's actions, you're not in the wrong?" asked Kezia. Sitala was about to snap, but Kezia stopped him, "I will say this, young man. While I do agree with you on the part about being yourself. But you are in the wrong for the things you said to that man. My advice would be is to go back and explain your frustrations to him and apologize to him. Sure, he may choose to court a woman that don't share your views, but you're no better than the people that reject you for who you are. In a way, you're rejecting them without giving them a chance as well."

For the first time in a long time, Sitala had to really think about his actions. Kezia did have a good point. He was doing the same thing to Mr. Edwards and Grace, that had been done to him. He sighed and nodded his head, "You're right, Grandma Kezia," he said, "Tomorrow, I'm going to apologize to Mr. Edwards and then on Monday, I'll apologize to Grace."

Kezia gave Sitala a warm smile, "That's what I wanted to hear," she said, "I'll ride with you tomorrow if you'd like."

Sitala returned Kezia's smile, "I'd like that, Grandma Kezia," he said, but realized his mistake again, "Oops, sorry for calling you Grandma. You remind me a lot of my great grandma."

Kezia let out a laugh, "It's quite alright," she said, "You may call me grandma if you like."

"Thanks," said Sitala, "So how was the food?"

"The food was delicious!" Kezia exclaimed, "Give the family you do your chores for my humblest thanks."

"Oh, I will, Grandma Kezia," said Sitala as he yawned, "Man, I'm getting tired."

"Well, go ahead and get some rest," said Kezia, "We have a long day tomorrow."

* * *

It was now Saturday morning and Mr. Edwards was over at the Ingalls' place. Laura, Mary and Carrie had looks of concern on their faces.

Laura turned to her Pa, "Will we ever see Sitala again, Pa?" she asked.

"I don't know, Half-Pint," Charles replied, "I don't know.

"I've looked at his thinkin' place, he wasn't there," said Mr. Edwards, "For me, I don't know whether to be upset with him or miss him."

Before anyone could say anything, the sound of wheels rolling down the dirt road was heard and the Widow Snider came into view and after a minute, she had her team of horses stop. When she got off her wagon, she got right in Mr. Edwards' face, "Mr. Edwards, I just came from your place," she stated, "I wanna know if you talked to that boy about his behavior. I told you yesterday, Mr. Edwards that if you don't do something, then I will."

Mr. Edwards was about to speak up, but another wagon was heard coming in. When it came into view, there was an elderly woman and Sitala himself. Everyone perked up at the sight of Sitala, but Grace had her strap ready. When the wagon stlopped, Sitala got off.

"Young man, it's ti-" Grace was cut off.

"Hold on," said Sitala, "I have a couple of things I need to say," he turned to Grace first, "Mrs. Snider, I'm sorry for cussing at you while you were opening up the post office," he then turned to Mr. Edwards, "And Mr. Edwards, I'm sorry for being rude to you for wanting Mrs. Snider in your life. My friend Kezia here set me straight last night when I stormed off from your house. I expected you to accept my differences, but in turn, I wasn't returning the favor."

Both Mr. Edwards and Grace were stunned. They didn't expect Sitala to apologize.

"I accept your apology, but next time, you will get the other end of this strap," said Grace.

Mr. Edwards turned to Sitala next, "You're forgiven," he said, "Now come on, introduce us to your friend here."

"Okay everyone, this is Grandma Kezia," said Sitala, "Kezia, the woman standing next to the man without the beard is Mrs. Ingalls. She made the food I gave to you last night. Next to her is Mr. Ingalls. The man with the big beard is Mr. Edwards, next to him is Widow Snider and the kids are Laura, Mary and Carrie."

Once intros were done, the group went inside and had a big morning feast. Mr. Edwards and Widow Snider didn't get back together, nor did he go to church the following day, but they remained on good terms. Carrie, Laura and Mary took an instant liking to Kezia, and she quickly became part of the Ingalls family, telling all kinds of stories from her youth.

* * *

 **That's it for this episode.**

 **I know Kezia Horn doesn't make her debut until Castoffs, the first episode of season 4, but I wanted to give Sitala someone unique to go to for advice. Plus Kezia is one of my favorite characters, even though she only appears in three episodes throughout the entire series.**

 **Bye for now.**


	4. Episode 4: Tree Hugger

**Hello all, midnightrebellion86 here.**

 **Episode Summary: An older boy by the name of Johnny Johnson arrives at Walnut Grove School for the first time, catching the eye of Laura, but only has eyes for Mary. Nellie bullies Sitala and teases him about his skin color and his eyes jumping around, and that he'll never get his name onto the Sweetheart Tree or get married. This nonstop teasing leads to Sitala finally retaliating against Nellie. Realizing that they've been too easy on him, the adults of Walnut Grove are forced to start punishing Sitala more harshly.**

* * *

 **'Queue Little House on the Prairie TV Show opening song'**

 **Charles Ingalls is seen plowing his fields using his main horse.**

 **The scene turns to Caroline Ingalls gathering water from the creek using two wooden buckets.**

 **The next scene consists of Laura and Mary Ingalls racing through the grass.**

 **The music changes to a low toned sinister beat as Sitala and Carrie run from Oleson's Mercantile with an angry Mrs. Oleson in hot pursuit with a wooden strap.**

 **'The music ends with Mrs. Oleson running out of breath and unable to catch the two kids.'**

* * *

 **Episode 4: Tree Hugger**

* * *

The school kids were enjoying a morning recess in the schoolyard. Some of the girls were playing Ring-a-round-a-Rosie. Some of the younger boys were playing a game of hide and seek, but Laura and some of the other kids were racing with each other, with Laura winning.

Mary was sitting on the school steps reading a book.

Sitala was just observing, as he really didn't feel like playing.

Laura stopped what she was doing and looked over in Sitala's direction, "Hey, aren't you going to play relay with us?" she asked.

Sitala shook his head no, "Nah, not right now," he replied, "But I will play during lunch recess."

This answer seemed to satisfy Laura and she smiled, "I'll hold you to that," she said.

While the game of relay was still delayed, an older kid about 14 of 15 years of age made his way to the school. He was tall, had short brown hair, fair skin and brown eyes. He caught the eye of Laura.

The pigtailed brunette was fixated on him so much that she didn't even hear Ms. Beadle come outside the schoolhouse to ring the bell in her hand. Sitala and the others had already gone inside, leaving the two alone, "Hi," she greeted.

"Hi," the new guy replied, "You run pretty good,"

Laura smiled at the compliment, "Thanks," she said, "My name's Laura,"

"I'm Johnny Johnson," the teen now known as Johnny Johnson said.

* * *

Everyone was now situated in class. Sitala was sitting behind Mary and Laura, and the latter was busy looking and staring at Johnny Johnson. Unfortunately for Sitala, he was sitting in front of Nellie, who just so happen to be in one of her moods to pry and bully, "Aww, poor Sitala's being replaced by the country girls," she mocked.

Sitala, not wanting to deal with Nellie, turned around to face her, "Shut up, Nellie," he snapped.

This caught the attention of Ms. Beadle, "Sitala, why aren't you reading your McGuffey?" she asked.

All eyes turned on the kid from the future, as he was caught talking in class.

"Oh, I was off in my own little world," Sitala replied.

The whole class laughed at Sitala's answer, but Ms. Beadle wasn't going to have any of it, "Class, quiet down," she ordered before turning her attention back to Sitala, "Sitala, please read your reader."

"Yes, ma'am," Sitala said.

Nellie took this opportunity to to tease Sitala some more, "You got in trouble, you got in trouble," she taunted.

Sitala was getting very irritated with the blonde. He wanted so bad to cuss her out right then and there. She was a pain in the ass and very difficult to get along with. Willie, while could also be a pain in the ass, was decent to get along with.

Soon, some of the class had to read a sentence from Dicky Bird Land, and that included Sitala for not reading his McGuffey when he was supposed to. Due to his not so great eyesight, Sitala had to hold the book up to his face, which caused some of the people in class to laugh at him.

Fortunately for him, he made it through to recess.

Once outside for recess, Sitala didn't hesitate to dig into his lunch, which consisted of a couple of Slim Jims, a bottle of Hubert's Lemonade and a Reeses. Mary was busy talking to her friend Christy Kennedy, so she didn't sit with Sitala for lunch. Laura was too stuck on Johnny Johnson, which left the kid from the future to eat lunch by himself. On one hand, it hurt to have to eat by himself, but at the same time, Nellie had gotten on his last nerve during class and really didn't feel up to talking to anyone.

Speaking of Nellie, the blonde bully had made her way over to Sitala with one of her evil grins on her face, "Aww, look whose sitting by himself today," she taunted.

Sitala wasn't in the mood for Nellie, and with Ms. Beadle out of sight, he turned his attention to her and was not going to hold back this time, "Get the fuck away from me, Nellie!" he exclaimed.

Nellie just ignored the fact that Sitala had swore at her and continued with her teasing, "How could anyone want to hang out with someone like you?" she continued, "Mother thinks your kind should still be in the south working the cotton fields."

That remark really pissed Sitala off. He wanted to lunge at her and choke the life out of her, but he knew he'd get in trouble, "Get away from me, Nellie," he demanded.

Nellie just continued to ignore Sitala's requests to be left alone, "And for once, I think Laura's making the right decision," she added, "No girl will ever want to marry a man that has eyes that bounce all over the place like yours do."

Sitala was about to go off on Nellie, but Willie had come up to him to see what he was doing, "Hey, what you got today?" he asked.

Sitala was still irritated with Nellie, but he needed the distraction from her the annoying blonde standing in front of him, "Just a couple of Slim Jims, some lemonade and a candy bar," he replied.

"Can I have one?" Willie asked.

Sitala knew Willie had to have his own lunch, and didn't want to give any of his. He liked Willie, but today was one of those days where he just didn't feel like sharing anything, "Where's your lunch?" he asked.

"Nellie threw my lunch and somebody's horse ate it," Willie complained.

Nellie had finally taken her attention off of Sitala and turned to her little brother, "Oh, hush, Willie," she said, "You eat more than your share at home. You don't need lunch."

Sitala took this time to sneak away while Nellie was busy bickering with her brother to go elsewhere to finish his lunch.

* * *

Over at Hanson's Mill, Charles was busy pacing back and forth beating himself up over something. Mr. Edwards and Mr. Hanson were doing all they could to not laugh at their friend as they each had their lunch pails, "Dad burn it, how could I be so forgetful?!" he complained as his stomach growled.

Mr. Edwards couldn't hold it in any longer and he started laughing at his best friend and his current situation, "Charles, have some of my lunch," he offered.

Upon hearing Mr. Edwards' offer for food, he cringed. He loved the company of the man from the mountain, but he didn't like his cooking one bit, "Um, Isaiah, I'd rather let a skunk spary me in the mouth before I eat any of that mess you call a stew," he replied, referring to the greenish yellow stew Mr. Edwards had brought to work to eat during lunch.

Mr. Hanson couldn't help but add to the conversation, "Well Charles, I think you might be in luck," he said before pointing in the direction of the bridge.

Sure enough, Mrs. Ingalls was making her way into town with the basket of eggs to go sell at the mercantile. In addition to the eggs, she had a metal pail in her other hand.

Caroline reached the mill and a look of relief filled Charles' features, "Charles, you forgot your lunch again," she announced, "You've been forgetful a lot lately."

Charles gladly took the lunch pail before kissing his wife on the lips, "Thank you, darling!" he said gratefully, "I thought I was going to starve to death out here."

"Well you would if I weren't around," Caroline replied, "I get it we need the extra money, but you don't have to be in a rush to get to the mill. And it would help if you actually sit down and eat breakfast as well."

Charles let out a sigh, "Yes, ma'am," he said teasingly.

"I'll see you at home later, Charles," Caroline said before turning her attention to both Mr. Edwards and Mr. Hanson, "Good day Mr. Edwards and Mr. Hanson."

The two other men waved goodbye as Caroline made her way towards the mercantile.

* * *

School had finally let out and the kids were heading home with their empty lunch pails and books in hand with their homework assignments.

Sitala was walking with Laura and Mary, as he still had a deal with the Ingalls family to do chores for meals, despite living with Mr. Edwards. Johnny Johnson was also walking with them, as he lived on the outskirts of town as well. Like during the school day, Laura was blushing and had all his attention on Laura, "So Johnny, how did you like your first day of school?" she asked.

Johnny turned to Laura, "I liked it a lot," he replied, "But I think I'm going to need some extra help with some of those reading words and my figuring."

Mary turned to Johnny next, "I'm sure Ms. Beadle would love to help you out with those two subjects!" she exclaimed, "And you'll get it in no time!"

Johnny blushed when Mary said this to him. Johnny had a small crush on Mary, and deep down, he knew that she was smart and wanted for her to tutor him, not Ms. Beadle.

Laura wasn't aware that Johnny had eyes for her sister, and thus was still pursuing him.

Sitala had been heavily ignored for most of the school day. It did hurt his feelings a bit, but being ignored in favor of the new guy was nothing compared to how annoying Nellie Oleson was being during both class and at lunch. Unfortunately for the boy from the future, he and the Ingalls were being followed by the aforementioned Nellie Oleson, "Wait up!" she shouted.

This annoyed Laura, Mary and Sitala, "What do you want, Nellie?" Laura asked.

Nellie had her mischievous grin on her face as she turned to Sitala, "You know, it isn't neighborly to walk away when someone is talking to you, you know," she taunted, "You didn't answer my question. What girl will marry you with your eyes jumping all over like that? And who wants a colored person? It seems Laura here has already made up her mind."

Sitala's blood was boiling now. This girl would not leave him alone. She had literally followed him from school and would not stop about him being black and his eye condition. He wanted to cuss her out so badly, and at this point he didn't care, "Fuck off, Nellie!" he shouted, "I don't have time for you."

Nellie smiled, "I'm telling my mother," she said.

Sitala glared at her, "Go ahead and tell her," he snapped back, "I'll go off on her as well."

With that, Sitala left with Laura, Mary and Johnny, while Nellie went back the other way. Laura and Mary didn't seem too pleased at Sitala's language, but when he explained that she was bugging him during lunch, they weren't so harsh with him. Sitala played a game with the three to see who could toss a rock the furthest. Sitala threw the rock further than Mary, but not as far as Johnny. Laura got impatient when she saw that Johnny was paying more attention to Mary.

* * *

At the Ingalls' house during dinner, Sitala was sitting next to Laura, Mary next to Carrie and Charles and Caroline each at one end of the table.

The meal consisted of beef stew, dinner rolls and water to drink with raspberry pie for dessert.

The mood for dinner was so-so. There was nothing super exciting to talk about, but Laura was quick to speak up, "There's a new kid in school!" she exclaimed as her eyes lit up at mentioning his name, "He's the best runner in the entire school!"

Charles, having met the new neighbor, was next to speak on it, "Yes, the Johnson boy," he said, "I met his father earlier today. Other than that, what did you all learn in school today?"

Sitala, having not been in the best mood decided to add to the conversation after swallowing a mouth full of stew, "I learned that there needs to be a law that allows me to hit girls," he said bitterly, remembering the things Nellie was pestering him about during recess.

Caroline gave Sitala a scolding look, "Now Sitala, just because someone makes you angry doesn't mean you have to act out on it," she said, "Maybe try talking to the person when they upset you."

"The thing is, I kept asking Nellie to stop, but wouldn't," Sitala stated.

Charles decided to get involved, "The best thing you can do is try again," he stated, "I'm sure things will get better for you. Finish your supper."

The rest of supper was uneventful, but with Laura bragging about Johnny from time to time, which got Mary a little irritated.

* * *

Mr. Edwards was sitting in his rocking chair as the late afternoon/early evening sun was setting. He was holding a wooden bowl with a wooden spoon. The contents of the bowl consisted of a greenish clear like substance with chunks of light grayish meat from who knows where floating in it with a few strands of steam coming from the soup. The bearded man had a big grin on his face as he waited for his dinner to cool off a bit, "Oh, that boy sure don't know what he's missin'!" he exclaimed as he took hold of the wooden spoon with his right hand, scooped up some of the soup, letting the excess content that didn't fit into the spoon drip back into the bowl before bringing it to his face and gulping it down, "Mmmm, good stuff!"

The handle on the wooden door on the other side of the room made a clicking noise, temporarily taking Mr. Edwards out of his enjoyment of his dinner. He had an alert look on his face as he prepared to get his gun. But he sat back down when the door opened, revealing Sitala, who had just come home from eating dinner at the Ingalls' place then visiting with Kezia for a bit.

Sitala shut the door behind him before Mr. Edwards got his attention, "You hungry, Sitala?" he offered.

Sitala's face wrinkled up in disgust as he smelled the stew, "No, I'm full," he replied. It wasn't true about being full, but there was no way in hell would he eat that stuff Mr. Edwards called food, even on an empty stomach. It smelled bad and during the short time he lived in the Edwards' house, he did all he could to avoid coming home before Mr. Edwards was done eating. He was very grateful that the Ingalls family was willing to let him eat with them in exchange for doing chores.

"Well, you don't know what you're missin'," Mr. Edwards replied as he brought the bowl with the foul smelling stuff to his face and began slurping down the liquid.

"No, I'm pretty sure I know what I'm missing, Mr. Edwards," Sitala replied, "I'll go check the traps and clean up the barn."

With that, Sitala left the cabin to go do his share of the chores.

* * *

It was now the next day and Mary, Laura and Sitala were walking to school together after Sitala had come over to do morning chores for some breakfast. Mary was carrying the lunch pale for her and Laura, while Sitala had his own box from his timeline. His box was a small portable cooler with a lock and key, so none of the other students could steal his food.

Laura was walking faster than both Sitala and Mary. The boy from the future turned to Mary with a puzzled look on her face, "I wonder why she's in such a hurry," he said.

Mary looked at Sitala and chuckled a bit before responding, "She's in love," she said before laughing some more.

Sitala couldn't help but laugh. He noticed that Laura had her eye on the new Johnny Johnson boy.

Unfortunately for both Mary and Sitala, Laura wasn't out of earshot of the two talking. She turned around and glared daggers at the two, well mainly Mary for making the comment, "I am not!" she exclaimed, trying her best to hold back the blush that was forming on her cheeks.

The trio continued their trek to school, walking over the bridge and entering the town. The schoolhouse came into view, and so did Oleson's Mercantile. Laura continued to lead the pack, as she was so eager to see Johnny.

Nellie had come out of the mercantile just as Laura, Mary and Sitala were about to pass the place. The bratty blonde gave Sitala a nasty look before greeting him, "Why hello, Sitala," she greeted in an unfriendly tone, "You seem to be in a good mood."

Sitala really didn't feel like dealing with Nellie at all, "Yeah, what of it?" he asked, not caring about being nice to Nellie.

Laura and Mary went ahead to the schoolyard, leaving their friend alone with the blonde.

"I really don't see the point of you being in a good mood," Nellie continued her teasing, "Laura and Mary just left you here. You should quit while you're ahead and go back to where you came. As I've stated yesterday, no girl will ever fall in love with you and put your name on the Sweetheart Tree."

Sitala laughed, "And why's that?" he asked.

"For starters, look at yourself in the mirror," Nellie stated, "Two, you can't even look me in the eye without your own eyes bouncing all over the place. And three, you look like you're going to kiss your McGuffey Reader when Ms. Beadle asks you to read something."

Sitala was enraged now, "Fuck off, bitch!" he exclaimed before making his way towards the schoolhouse.

All the kids were busy playing various games. Sitala just went into the schoolhouse, as he wasn't in the mood to play any games.

* * *

Ms. Beadle was standing in front of the class with her teacher's addition of the McGuffey's Reader.

Johnny Johnson had just finished reading his paragraph to the class, causing Laura to smile from ear to ear.

Ms. Beadle looked at everyone in the class as if she was searching for something. After about ten more seconds, her eyes stopped on Nellie, who was sitting next to Willie, "Nellie, will you read the next paragraph, please?" she asked nicely.

Instead of cooperating, Nellie looked over at Sitala and had an evil grin on her face, "Why not have Sitala do it?" she suggested, "He's practically kissing the page."

This caused several people in the class to laugh at Nellie's joke. Ms. Beadle gave Nellie a warning stare, "Nellie, knock it off," she demanded.

"I'm just being a good friend," Nellie stated, "He won't ever get married anyway."

Some of the bullies started making kissing noises in Sitala's direction and Ms. Beadle stepped in, "Alright, that's enough out of all of you!" she shouted, "The next person that bullies Sitala will stay after school and not have lunch hour for the rest of the week, the teacher then turned her attention to Nellie, "And since you started this, young lady, go stand in the corner right now!"

This made Sitala feel good. He expected Ms. Beadle to let Nellie treat him like this, due to his skin color. Truth be told, back in his original timeline growing up, he had dealt with a lot of authority figures that would turn the other way when bad things were happening to him. He had very little trust in authority because of it. But here was this white teacher being fair on behalf of a black student in the 19th century.

Mary was asked to read the paragraph that Nellie was supposed to read as the aforementioned bratty blonde pouted as she made her way to the northwest corner and faced the back door and had her back to the class.

Things were going great, but when the sound of the door handle turning was heard, followed by footsteps. The owner of those footsteps soon revealed themselves to be none other than Mrs. Oleson, "Excuse me, Ms. Beadle," the store clerk greeted, getting the attention of the teacher, "Nellie and Willie forgot their lunch and I was just bringing it to them."

"Okay, I'm sure they'll appreciate that, Mrs. Oleson," Ms. Beadle said, "Good day."

Mrs. Oleson was just about to turn around and leave until she saw Nellie standing in the corner. This caused the already usually bitter heavy set woman to be even more bitter, "Ms. Beadle, what is my Nellie doing in the corner?" she demanded.

Ms. Beadle had an uncomfortable look on her face. She took a deep breath before answering the overbearing woman's question, "She's standing in the corner for bullying Sitala, Mrs. Oleson," she responded, "Now will you please leave? I'd like to continue with my class."

Harriet Oleson shook her head in disgust, "Ms. Beadle, you know how mouthy that colored boy is, especially to my Nellie and my Willie," she stated, "I am a member of the school board. Now either you let my Nellie take her seat or there will be an emergency school board meeting tonight."

Ms. Beadle looked at Sitala with an apologetic frown on her face before letting out a long sigh before turning her attention to Nellie, "Nellie, you may take your seat," she said quietly.

The spoiled blonde left the corner and on the way, gave Sitala a dirty look.

Harriet turned to leave, "Good day, Ms. Beadle," she said as she left the classroom.

Sitala sat in his seat shaking with anger, 'You've got to fucking be kidding me,' he thought to himself.

* * *

Recess was uneventful and like the previous day, Sitala was ignored in favor of Johnny Johnson. Mary was doing some extra studying and Willie joined in on the kissing noises during the reading lesson, so he didn't want to deal with him.

As the kids were entering the classroom, Willie decided to continue the bullying the Nellie had started during the morning classes by making kissing noises in Sitala's direction.

Sitala, already in a bad mood at the way things were going, had finally snapped, "Leave me alone, you bastard!" he shouted.

Everyone in the class was stunned hearing Sitala talk like that in front of Ms. Beadle. They knew he had a mouth on him, but he had never sworn out loud during class. Most of all, Ms. Beadle herself was a bit shocked. But nonetheless, she had to be fair and punish him, "Sitala, for your language, you need to go to the corner and I'd like to talk to you after school," she stated.

The class, save for Laura, Mary and Johnny laughed at Sitala as he made his way to the corner. Once he was in the corner, his rage was building, 'I'm going to do something about that bitch myself,' he promised himself. He was so mad that he actually blacked out and didn't hear any of the lessons.

Sitala did hear Ms. Beadle dismiss the class after the arithmetic lesson was finished. Once everyone was out of the class, Ms. Beadle turned to the kid from the future, "Sitala, I'm very disappointed in you," she stated, "I know you're frustrated with how Nellie's been treating you, but you have to control your temper."

'And you need to grow a backbone and not let fat ass Harriet walk all over you,' Sitala thought to himself. He had nothing to say to Ms. Beadle. Not after she let Nellie get away Scott free, while he had to stand in the corner just for calling Willie a bastard.

The schoolteacher took a piece of paper from her tablet and wrote down what Sitala did and signed it, "I want you take that note home with you, and I want it signed," she stated, "You may leave."

Sitala left the classroom, and to his surprise, Laura and Mary were waiting for him outside the schoolhouse. This shocked the boy from the future, "What made you two stay here?" he asked, "Won't your Ma and Pa be upset at you coming home late?"

"Yes, but we wanted to wait for you," Laura stated, "It wasn't fair that you got sent to the corner and had to stay after school."

"Typical Mrs. Oleson to bail her children out when they get into trouble," Mary added.

'Take that, Nellie,' Sitala thought to himself. It really made him feel good that Laura and Mary still regarded him as a friend.

"So what did Ms. Beadle say to you?" Mary asked.

"She just said how disappointed she was in me," Sitala replied as he continued walking with his two friends, "She also gave me a note to give to Mr. Edwards."

* * *

Sitala was on his way home from the Ingalls after eating dinner at their house. It was leftovers from the previous night, but it didn't bother Sitala none. Laura and Mary were nice enough to not bring up the events of what happened during school.

After the walk, Sitala entered the house, and fortunately for him, Mr. Edwards wasn't in the middle of eating one of his disgusting smelling, eye watering soups. He shut the door behind him and Mr. Edwards looked at the new arrival, "How was dinner at the Ingalls?" he asked.

"It was good," Sitala said as he took the note he got from Ms. Beadle out of his pocket, "Ms. Beadle wanted me to give this to you to read and to sign."

Sitala walked over and handed the note to Mr. Edwards. The bearded man took the note, unfolded it and began to read it. Upon setting eyes on the piece of paper, he had a look of utter confusion as he handed the note back to Sitala, "Here, you read it," he said, "I wanna hear how good you read."

Sitala immediately put two and two together. The instant look of utter confusion right after looking at the paper, then having the note handed back to him to read to Mr. Edwards meant one thing. Mr. Edwards was illiterate and couldn't read, nor write, 'Well, if Nellie can get away with things, then I can too,' he thought to himself as a smile formed on his face before sitting down on the other chair. Luckily for Sitala, it was still light enough for him to read, as his eyesight wasn't the greatest. He took a deep breath before he began "reading" the note, "The note says YUM YUM! HORRAY HORRAY THANK YOU FOR THIS GREAT MEAL!" he lied.

Mr. Edwards was even more confused by this, "Why would your teacher send a note like that home?" he asked.

"It was a reading homework assignment," Sitala lied, "But I was supposed to show you it first. I'm supposed to practice it with you as well and have you sign it."

Mr. Edwards calmed down, finally believing Sitala, "Alright, hwo did it go again?" he asked.

"YUM YUM! HORRAY HORRAY! THANK YOU FOR THIS GREAT MEAL!" Sitala recited as he pumped his right arm in the air, "You're supposed to pump your right arm in the air like me as you recite it."

"Okay, let's try it together," Mr. Edwards said.

"YUM YUM! HORRAY HORRAY! THANK YOU FOR THIS GREAT MEAL!" both man and child recited as they pumped their right fist in the air.

This went on a few more times until Mr. Edwards was done, "Say, I smashed my hand at the mill today, so I won't be able to sign the note," he said.

Sitala smiled, "Its okay," he replied, "I'll sign it."

Sitala forged Mr. Edwards' name, and was careful to not make the forgery look exactly like his own handwriting. Back in his timeline, he had forged his mom's signature when he was 14 years old when he was at the blind school in Wisconsin. The houseparents at the blind school didn't like the kids watching WWF, now WWE and South Park, and had to have written permission from their parents or legal guardian. When Sitala returned to school with the piece of paper with the forged signature stating that he could watch wrestling and South Park and gave it to his houseparent, she was suspicious of the signature and threatened to call his mom, which never happened.

Sitala didn't like missing WWF, especially back in late 2000 and early 2001, as that's when Stone Cold Steve Austin had returned from neck surgery. Undertaker had returned with his biker gimmick, The Rock and Kurt Angle had their rivalry going on. Triple H was also in the mix. Vince McMahon had bought WCW, starting the invasion storyline. Stone Cold turned heel at Wrestlemania.

Then a couple of school years later at 16, Sitala once again forged a signature of an authority figure, this time forging the signature of his houseparent for his Daily Living Skills homework. He wasn't so lucky the second time, as the Daily Living Skills teacher lectured him, and he got lectured by his houseparent for forging his signature.

But this was the 19th century where the rules were different. You had people opening up other people's mail and reading it, while in the 21st century, it's a federal offense to open up another person's mail.

After signing the note, Sitala did his chores and decided to wait until Mr. Edwards was asleep before putting his plan into motion, 'If Ms. Beadle won't punish Nellie, I will,' he thought to himself as he rubbed his hands together with his mischievous look on his face.

* * *

Over at the Oleson's, its gossip as usual, "Sitala got sent to the corner and had to stay after school today," Nellie bragged.

Harriet, knowing that her presence was felt, had to chime in, "Hahahaha, it's about time that foul mouthed colored boy got what he deserved," she said, "If it were me, I'd have his mouth washed out with soap then have him horse whipped."

Nels wasn't amused by his wife's outburst, 'Yet you can't discipline your own children," he said under his breath.

Harriet with her sharp hearing whenever her husband spoke under his breath, caught him, "What was that you said, Nels?" she asked.

"I said that our children are the best disciplined," Nels said.

Harriet smiled, "Indeed they are," she said before taking a bite of her dinner roll.

* * *

Sitala was on his way to the Ingalls for breakfast, and he had a look of determination on his face as the little house and the corral came into view.

Laura had just finished collecting the eggs, so Sitala was tasked with cleaning the coop, which he did.

When Sitala was done, he made his way to the door of the little house and knocked. He waited until the door opened, revealing Laura standing on the other side, "Good morning, Sitala," she greeted, "Come on in. Ma's making pancakes with strawberry jam on top, bacon and eggs."

This made Sitala's mouth water. He loved Mrs. Ingalls' cooking, hence the reason he would come over and do chores for meals. But bacon and eggs were his favorite breakfast food to eat for lunch and dinner. He entered the house and took a seat next to Carrie, who was happy to see him, "Morning, Jumpin' Bean," he greeted by petting her on the head, "You doing anything fun today?"

"I'm going to the store with Ma to sell eggs!" Carrie exclaimed, "Then I'm going to go play dollys!"

"That's awesome, Jumpin' Bean," Sitala said.

Sitala liked talking to Carrie. She was the baby in the family. Back in his timeline, Sitala was the youngest in his family, so that helped him bond with her. The one thing he dared not do is cuss in front of her. If he did, it would be by a slip of the tongue, drop something or bump his knee on the corner of the table.

"Okay, enough talking," Charles said, "I'm getting hungry, so everyone fold their hands and bow their heads, please," everyone did as asked and Charles started the morning blessing, "Dear Lord, we thank you for this day and this wonderful meal we're about to enjoy. Please watch over us as we go to work and school. Amen."

After the blessing, everyone began digging into their food. Sitala was loving the pancakes with the strawberry jam on top, "Wow, Mrs. Ingalls!" he exclaimed after swallowing what he had in his mouth, "These are the best pancakes I've ever had!"

Caroline smiled at the compliment, "Well, thank you, Sitala," she said gratefully, "I'm glad you like them."

There was another knock on the door, surprising everyone, "I wonder who that could be?" Charles wondered before standing up to get the door. He opened the door and it was none other than Johnny Johnson, "Johnny, what brings you here so early?"

Johnny had a nervous look on his face. Laura beamed as she saw the boy she had a crush on at the door. Johnny cleared his throat before finally speaking, "I came by because I wanted to know if Mary would be willing to help me with my spelling words."

"Well, we're just finishing breakfast," Charles said, "The only way you'll get an answer is to ask her yourself."

Hearing this caused Laura to frown. There was a hint of anger on her face as well. She didn't like the idea of Johnny wanting help from Mary rather than spend time with Laura.

* * *

Sitala, Mary, Laura and Johnny were walking to school together and Laura was getting increasingly jealous when she saw Johnny smiling at Mary when she helped him with his schoolwork.

Sitala noticed this. He turned to his friend, "Laura, are you okay?" he asked, "You've been really quiet this whole time."

"I said I'm fine!" Laura snapped back, "I already told you."

It was true. He had asked Laura if she was alright two previous times. But it wasn't Sitala's fault that the guy she liked preferred her sister, "Okay, geez," he replied before walking ahead and away from Laura, 'Damn, I get jealous too, but shit,' he thought to himself, 'I know not to fuck with her when she's jealous.'

Sitala made it into town and the store, the mill, the post office, the livery stable, Dr. Baker's office and the schoolhouse came into view. He was going to put his plan into motion, and it helped that he walked ahead of the other three. Sure enough, Nellie was waiting for him with her sinister grin, "Good morning, Sitala," she greeted in her usual tone, "How did you enjoy your little lecture from Ms. Beadle? You know that's the closest you'll ever get to alone time with a woman."

Sitala took a deep breath and did all he could not to cuss Nellie out, "You're right," he said.

This stunned Nellie, "What?" she asked after taking a few steps back, "I am?"

"Yes," Sitala said, "You are correct. I won't ever have my name on the Sweetheart Tree, nor get married. In my culture, we go above and beyond as a peace offering to ensure nothing but the best. So meet me by the Sweetheart Tree after school and I'll do something for you to ensure that you'll have the most handsome husband."

Nellie being young and naïve, didn't catch onto Sitala, "Sure, I'll be there," she said, "And I'm glad you finally understand, Sitala. Let's walk the rest of the way to school together."

Sitala and Nellie walked together and the former rubbed his hands together, 'Oh Nellie, you're the one that's going to finally understand,' he thought to himself, 'You'll finally understand that payback's a bitch.'

Fortunately for Sitala, Laura and Mary were preoccupied, so they didn't hear what the conversation was between the two new 'friends'.

Ms. Beadle walked outside with the little bell in her hand and began ringing it, "Children, time for school!" she exclaimed.

The kids stopped their various games and began walking up the school steps and ento the schoolhouse.

* * *

Sitala was sitting to the right of Nellie, while Willie was standing in the corner for blowing a spitball at one of the girls.

"Okay, Nellie, the next word is Bloom," Ms. Beadle said.

Nellie stood up and took a deep breath, "Bloom, B.L.U.M.E, bloom," she said before sitting down.

"I'm sorry, Nellie," Ms. Beadle said before turning to Sitala, "Sitala, Bloom."

Sitala stood up, "Bloom, B.L.O.O.M, bloom," he said without hesitation before taking his seat.

"Great job, Sitala," Ms. Beadle praised, "You and Mary are today's spelling winners," the class clapped, "That's all for now. You may all go to recess," everyone got up to head outside for recess, but Ms. Beadle looked at Sitala, "Sitala, can I see you for a moment, please?"

Sitala stopped in his tracks and waited for all his classmates to leave before walking to the front of the class to see what Ms. Beadle wanted.

"You did very well this morning," the teacher praised, "I'm sorry if I seemed a bit unfair yesterday. Do you have the note I asked you to take home with you?"

Sitala went into his pants pocket and grabbed the note before handing it to Ms. Beadle.

The teacher unfolded the note and saw that it was 'signed' by Mr. Edwards, "Very well," she said, "Thank you for having this signed. You're excused."

Sitala left through the backdoor to join the others for recess.

* * *

Sitala sat in his usual spot as he watched the others play. His lunch consisted of a couple of Slim Jims, a glass bottle of Hubert's Lemonade and a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Thanks to his lunch pale being a battery operated cooler, his lemonade was nice and cold and his candy bar wasn't melting.

Willie approached Sitala, "Sitala, did you bring any M&Ms?" he asked.

"No, Willie, I didn't," Sitala replied before taking a bite out of the first of his two Slim Jims.

Willie walked away, hoping someone else had candy for him. 'I take it Mr. Oleson caught him taking candy before school again,' Sitala thought to himself as he watched Willie walk away empty handed from another kid.

Mary was busy helping Johnny with some more of his schoolwork during recess, which made Laura upset. Sitala didn't even bother going over to try and cheer her up. He didn't feel like getting his head bit off again.

* * *

Class had been dismissed and the kids were running out of the schoolhouse, eager to get home.

Laura and Mary were at odds with each other because of Johnny.

Nellie and Sitala were walking together and left the schoolyard. They went into the nearby woods where the Sweetheart Tree was located. The tree had a heart engraved in it with several names added.

Nellie being the impatient one, was eager to get it over with, "Okay, you brought me here," she said, "Now get to it already."

'My pleasure, bitch,' Sitala thought to himself, "I want you to close your eyes and imagine the type of man you wish to marry," he said and waited for Nellie to shut her eyes. When she did, he continued, "Imagine this tree being replaced with the body of a strong handsome man dressed very nicely," Sitala took out a bottle with a gel like substance and opened it as he was talking, "I want you to imagine the type of life the two of you will have. I want you to imagine all the other girls in Walnut Grove not having a man as good as yours," Sitala put the gel on the sides of the tree and on the front before putting the cap on and placing it back into his pocket, "And now I want you to jump forward as if you're giving your man a big hug as if you're jumping into his arms. Then I want you to give him a big kiss."

Sitala moved out of the way and Nellie, very into her imagination, did as told and leapt towards the Sweetheart Tree as if she was giving someone a big hug and kiss. She wrapped her legs around the tree and pressed her lips to it, but something happened. She was completely stuck to the tree.

The spoiled blonde opened her eyes and realized the situation she was in, "MMAAAMMMM!" she tried to yell out, but her lips were stuck to the tree, preventing her from forming words.

Sitala, now done with his nice act, decided to finally go off on her, "Who's the one kissing strange things now, bitch?" he asked, "I hope you enjoy being a tree hugger, you fucking bitch!"

With that, Sitala ran off, leaving Nellie stuck to the Sweetheart Tree as she squirmed and squirmed, but couldn't get herself loose.

* * *

Laura and Mary were busy doing arithmetic homework at the table, while Carrie was sitting near the fireplace playing with one of her dolls. Caroline was knitting a shirt for Charles. Jack was under the table happily wagging his tail and hoping for some scraps to drop his way during dinner.

The seemingly peace and quiet was not so peaceful. Laura would look up at Mary and glare at her from time to time in between her math problems.

Caroline noticed this, "Girls, I've never seen you both so focused on your homework," she said.

Mary stopped what she was doing and looked over at her Ma, "I'm playing catch up," she stated, "I spent all recess and this morning trying to help Johnny, but nothing was sticking with him."

"Mary, maybe he just need a little more help," Caroline suggested.

"Ma, he has the brain of a goldfish," Mary stated, getting a little annoyed talking about Johnny, "And he's always staring at me like a puppy kicked to the curb."

Laura, with the fact that she had a crush on Johnny, got angry at her sister, "Shut up, Mary!" she shouted, "Johnny is the most amazing boy in the whole school!"

This time it was Caroline who jumped in, "Laura Ingalls, you do not talk to your sister or anyone like that," she scolded before taking a deep breath, "Finish your homework."

"Yes ma'am," Laura said before going back to her work.

* * *

Dinner consisted of pot roast, dinner rolls, apple pie for dessert and water to drink. Charles had already said grace, so everyone was eating. Like earlier, things were quiet, but the aforementioned Charles decided to break that silence when he turned to Sitala, "How was your day at school?" he asked.

"It was much better than the last two days," Sitala replied before taking a drink of his water, "Anything new at the mill?"

"No, same job, just different day of the week," Charles replied, "The only thing different this time was Mr. Edwards didn't bring a bowl of his awful stew in for lunch."

Sitala couldn't help but laugh at this. He wasn't the only one that wanted nothing to do with Mr. Edwards' cooking, "Now you know why I come here to eat," he said.

Caroline gave Sitala a warning look, "Sitala," she said, "It's not nice to make fun of someone's cooking behind their back."

"She's right," Charles said, "But I do hope you cover your nose when he cooks," he laughed, getting a warning glare from his wife.

Mary and Laura didn't talk to each other or to anyone during dinner. They were still at odds over Johnny.

* * *

The mercantile was closed and Harriet had a worried look on her face as she was pacing back and forth.

Willie was at the counter sneaking some candy, but Nels had come out of the storeroom and caught him, "Willie, get out of that candy," he ordered.

Willie put his head down. It just wasn't his day to have sweets. The dejected boy was about to go upstairs, but Harriet stopped him, "Willie, where's your sister?" she asked.

"I don't know, Ma," the boy replied, "I thought she was following me home."

Nels, now worried about his daughter, decided to join in on the conversation, "Did Nellie tell you she'd be somewhere after school?" he asked.

"No, sir," Willie replied.

Harriet rushed from behind the counter and was headed for the door, "Harriet, where are you going?" Nels asked.

The heavy set woman turned around, "I'm going to go look for Nellie," she replied, "School's been our for a half an hour now. I'm going to see if Ms. Beadle knows anything. You wait here."

Harriet left the store and made her way down the steps before walking towards the schoolhouse just as Ms. Beadle was climbing into her buggy. The teacher saw Harriet out of the corner of her eye and stopped what she was doing, "Mrs. Oleson, what can I help you with?" she asked.

"Yes, have you seen Nellie?" Harriet asked in a frantic tone, "She hasn't come home yet."

"Well that's strange," Ms. Beadle stated, "I saw her leave with the other kids after I dismissed the class. I didn't overhear Nellie making plans with any of the students," Harriet was frustrated with Ms. Beadle's answer. The teacher gave her an apologetic look, "I'm sorry I couldn't be of any help."

Ms. Beadle got into her buggy and rode away from the schoolhouse, leaving a frustrated Mrs. Oleson standing there.

* * *

Back at the Ingalls place, everyone just finished eating and washing the dishes. Jack was under the table happily eating scraps from dinner as he wagged his tail.

Sitala turned to the Ingalls, "Dinner was really good tonight," he said, "Thanks."

Caroline smiled at the compliment on her cooking, "You're welcome, Sitala," she replied, "See you tomorrow for breakfast."

Sitala turned to the others, "I'll see you all tomorrow," he said before turning to leave.

"Goodnight, Sitala," Laura, Carrie, Mary and Charles said in unison.

Sitala grabbed the handle to the door and walked out before closing the door behind him.

* * *

A frantic Harriet stormed into the mercantile where both Willie and Nels were waiting, "Nels, get the men to help look for Nellie!" she shouted.

Nels turned to Willie, "Willie, come with me and help me gather everyone," he said.

"Yes sir," Willie replied.

Both Nels and Willie ran out of the store leaving Harriet aline. The heavy set woman let out a long sigh, "Where's my Nellie?" she asked before taking a seat on a chair.

Nels and Willie hitched the team and got on the buckboard, "Gettiup!" Nels shouted before the buggy started taking off over the bridge.

Nels gathered Dr. Baker and Lars Hansen and the three met up, "Let's split up and go get Mr. Kennedy and Charles," Dr. Baker suggested, "I'll go to the Kennedy place and you two go to the Ingalls place."

"Sounds like a good idea," Nels said before turning to Willie, "Willie, I want you to go back home and wait with your mother."

Willie got out of the buggy and went home. Nels and Lars went towards the Ingalls, while Dr. Baker went to go get Mr. Kennedy.

* * *

Over at the Ingalls, the girls were already in bed for the night. Caroline was having a cup of tea while Charles was reading a catalog and having some popcorn.

Caroline had a look of concern on her face and turned to her husband, "Charles, we need to talk to the girls," she said with a bit of concern in her voice.

Charles took a few kernels of popcorn and ate them before turning to his wife, "And why should we talk to the girls?" he asked.

"Charles, they've been quiet and fighting with each other," Caroline replied, "In case you haven't notice, things have been getting out of hand over Johnny."

Charles let out a long sigh, "Okay, I'll try and talk to them tomorrow," he said, "But all I know is Johnny had come to Mary to get help with his schoolwork."

Before Caroline could reply to what Charles said, there was a knock on the door. This puzzled both Charles and Caroline, "I wonder who could that be at this hour," Caroline said.

Charles put the catalog and the popcorn on the table before standing up, "Might as well find out," he said as he made his way to the door, unlatched it and opened it. Charles was surprised to see the two men on the other side, "Nels, Mr. Hansen, what brings you here?"

Charles moved out of the way and let the two men in. Caroline did the neighborly thing and greeted the two, "Would you two like some tea?" she offered.

"No, thank you," Nels said before turning back to Charles, "Charles, we came here because this is an urgent matter."

Caroline had a look of concern upon hearing this, "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nellie didn't come home from school today," Nels stated, "Harriet's frantic as ever."

"I'll go hitch up the team," Charles stated before walking over to Caroline, "Caroline, I want you to stay here. I don't know when I'll be back," Charles then gave Caroline a kiss before leaving with Nels and Mr. Hansen.

* * *

Despite it being the middle of the evening, it was still light out, so no lanterns were needed. Charles, Mr. Hansen, Mr. Kennedy, Dr. Baker and Nels had all met up in town. They were in front of the mercantile. Ms. Beadle was also present, as she was the last person to see Nellie.

Harriet had come out of the store and saw everyone gathered, "Have you found her yet?" she asked.

"No, Harriet," Nels replied, "We just got back into town."

Charles turned to Ms. Beadle, "Ms. Beadle, did Nellie make any plans with any of the students today?" he asked.

Ms. Beadle shook her head no, "No, Mr. Ingalls," she replied, "In fact, everything went normal in school today. I saw Nellie leave out the front with all the other students after I dismissed the class for the day," the men nodded their heads, accepting what Ms. Beadle just told them. But then the teacher remembered something, "Wait a minute," she said, getting everyone's attention, "There's been a lot of buzz about the Sweetheart Tree lately. She could've gone there after school."

Hearing this lead gave Harriet hope, "Well don't just stand there, let's go!" she demanded.

Charles sighed, "For once, I agree with her," he said.

Everyone took off towards the woods behind the schoolhouse and began calling out for Nellie, "Nellie!" Nels shouted.

"Nellie dear, are you out here!" Harriet shouted as her voice echoed through the woods, "Nellie, please answer!" tears began rolling down the heavy set woman's face as she turned to her husband, "Nels, our Nellie is gone,"

Nels pulled his wife into a hug and rubbed her back, trying to calm her down, "Harriet, we'll find her," he said in a soft tone.

"Nellie!" Mr. Hansen called out.

"Nellie, its Doc Baker!" the doctor said.

"Nellie, answer us!" Charles and Mr. Kennedy shouted.

"Nellie!" Ms. Beadle shouted.

The group went deeper into the woods with Nels and Harriet leading the way. They finally reached the Sweetheart Tree and Harriet was completely horrified at what she found. Nellie Oleson was stuck to the Sweetheart Tree with her arms and legs wrapped around it. Not only that, her lips were also stuck to the tree. There were obvious signs that the poor spoiled blonde had been crying. Dried streaks of tears marred her face and soaked her dress, which was still completely intact. The girl wasn't moving, but upon closer inspection, she was still very much alive with the color still in her face and her breathing was normal. She had cried herself to sleep from exhaustion.

"Dr. Baker, Mr. Hansen!" Harriet shouted frantically, "Help!"

The rest of the group rushed to the scene and were stunned at what they saw.

'Oh my God!' Dr. Baker thought to himself when he saw this.

Charles couldn't believe it.

Nels ran to the tree and tried to get Nellie down, but the task appeared to be much more difficult than expected. The girl woke up and had a look of relief on her face when she saw people trying to get her down, "Mmmrrreeeee!" was all Nellie could say.

Nels looked to the rest of the men, "Guys, I need your help!" he said frantically, "She's stuck to this tree and I can't get her down."

Everyone rushed in to help get Nellie off of the tree. They pulled and pulled and finally, they got Nellie free, but at the cost of her dress and some of her skin from her lips and hands.

Nellie was balling as fresh tears rolled down her eyes as she shook uncontrollably. Harriet was holding her daughter and was trying to comfort her, "Nellie, mama's here," she said in a soothing tone, "Everything will be alright."

Dr. Baker approached Harriet and Nellie. He didn't want to break up the hug, but he saw the injuries from what ever it was that had Nellie stuck to the tree, "Mrs. Oleson, we're going to have to bring her to my office to treat those injuries so that they don't get infected," he said.

* * *

Charles, Mr. Hansen, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. and Mrs. Oleson and Ms. Beadle were in Doc Baker's office, while the doctor himself was tending to Nellie in the other room.

Everyone present had looks of worry and disbelief on their faces. The Olesons were more concerned than anyone for obvious reasons.

Mr. Kennedy was the first to break the silence, "Who would do such a horrible thing to that little girl?" he asked.

"I don't know, Mr. Kennedy," Charles replied, "I know Laura and her don't always see eye to eye, but even she wouldn't go this far."

Mr. Hansen was about to say something, but Dr. Baker opened the curtain and stepped out before turning his attention to the Olesons, "I've got that substance cleaned up from her lips and her hands," he stated, "I also put rubbing alcohol on her hands and she has ice on her hands. She'll have to eat slowly, to not irritate her lips and a week to two weeks for her hands to heal."

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief, but Mrs. Oleson stood up first, "Can we go in and see her?" she asked.

"Yes, you can all go in and see her," Dr. Baker said.

The group got up and made their way into the examining room. Nels and Harriet were both happy to see their daughter awake and well. But Harriet wanted answers, "Nellie darling, who did this to you?" she asked.

Nellie, albeit better, was still shaking from what happened. She took a deep breath before finally speaking, "Sitala did," she answered before taking another deep breath, "He had me shut my eyes and imagine a handsome man before telling me to jump forwards as to go into a big hug. The next thing I knew, I was stuck to the tree. He swore at me and ran off."

Everyone in the room was stunned at hearing this. Harriet was irate, "That boy needs to be horsewhipped within an inch of his life!" she exclaimed with fury before turning to her husband, "Take me to where that boy lives. I'm going to whip him personally!"

Everyone in the room looked at one another. Ms. Beadle was the most confused about this, "Nellie, are you sure it was Sitala that did this to you?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am, I'm sure," Nellie replied.

"Why would Sitala do something like this?" Nels asked.

Nels had a small bit of hurt on his face. He liked Sitala a lot. He most of all wanted to know why he did this to his daughter.

"Prior to today, Nellie has been bullying Sitala during class," Ms. Beadle stated, "I had sent her to the corner, but Mrs. Oleson came in and overruled it. Today, Nellie and Sitala were getting along just fine. I had to send Sitala to the corner after lunch yesterday for swearing at Willie."

"What are we going to do about his?" Mr. Kennedy asked.

"I think the best thing we can do is have an emergency town meeting tomorrow morning before school starts," Mr. Hansen suggested, "That boy has to be punished for what he did."

"I think he should be expelled from school and horsewhipped!" Harriet exclaimed, "Just having a meeting won't do anything. He's gotten mouthy with my Nellie and my Willie. He's even called me names and swore at me."

"He comes to my place to do chores in the morning and after school in exchange for breakfast and dinner," Charles stated, "Then he goes to Mr. Edwards' place."

"We need him at the meeting tomorrow," Dr. Baker stated, "Some of us haven't even met him yet."

"We need to know where he got that weird substance from," Nels stated, "We need to search his things, so that he doesn't do anything like this again."

"What should we do about school?" Mr. Kennedy asked.

"We'll have to delay school until the meeting is over with," Mr. Hansen stated.

* * *

All the lamps at the Ingalls place were all put out and everyone was in bed. The only light coming into the little house was the light from the ¾ moon beaming into the windows. Jack laid on the floor asllep snoring peacefully. Carrie was sleeping peaceful in her bed, and so were Laura and Mary up in the loft.

The only two people that were awake still were Charles and Caroline. Caroline sat up and looked at her husband with disbelief, "Charles, its just awful what Nellie went through," she said.

Charles sat up, still unable to sleep, either, "I know," he replied, "I felt bad for her when I saw her stuck to that tree."

"Charles, what are we going to do about this? Caroline asked, "He usually comes here before going to school with the girls."

Charles let out a long sigh, "I'm going to ride over to Mr. Edwards' place tomorrow and offer Sitala a ride into town. I won't act funny towards him, otherwise he'll catch onto what's going on."

"There's no sense in thinking about it too much now," Caroline stated, "Let's try and get some sleep."

Charles kissed Caroline on the lips, "Goodnight," he said.

"Goodnight," Caroline said.

The two laid back down and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It was a new day and Sitala was cleaning the stalls in the barn at the Edwards place. He had his cooler ready.

The boy from the future finished cleaning the stalls and he stopped when he heard the sound of horses walking and the wheels of a buggy rolling along the dirt path, 'A visitor this early?' he thought to himself. He looked outside the barn and saw that Mr. Ingalls was the one coming.

The door to the cabin of the Edwards place opened and Mr. Edwards himself stepped out just when Charles stopped, "Good morning, Charles," he greeted.

"Good morning, Mr. Edwards," Charles replied back, "Is Sitala home?"

"He's cleaning the barn," Mr. Edwards said, "He should be done about now. Why, what's up?"

Charles wanted to tell his best friend exactly what happened with Nellie after school yesterday, but he had to keep the emergency meeting under wraps, "I'm going into town a bit early today and we had breakfast early," he lied, "So I thought I'd stop by and offer Sitala a ride into town."

"Well if you're goin' into town, I might as well go too," Mr. Edwards said.

Sitala walked out of the barn and saw both men talking. Charles saw Sitala and made eye contact with him, "Sitala, you missed breakfast," he stated, "I'm on my way to town. Do you want a ride?"

"Sure," Sitala said as he grabbed his lunch and got into the wagon.

Mr. Edwards got into his wagon and the two drove off, leaving the property.

* * *

Charles pulled up to the schoolhouse, and to Sitala's surprise, there were a lot of other buggies parked near the schoolhouse, 'I wonder what's going on today,' he thought to himself.

Sitala got out of the wagon and so did Charles. Like other days, the kids were playing. The only difference was, several adults were entering the schoolhouse. Sitalsa was about to go talk to Laura and Mary, but Charles turned his attention to him first, "Sitala, let's head into the schoolhouse," he said.

At this point, Sitala knew something was up. Why would Mr. Ingalls suddenly ask him to follow him into the schoolhouse? He did as asked and followed the man up the steps and into the building. The two walked to the left path and upon entering the room, several of the adults were seated and had serious looks on their faces when they saw both Charles and Sitala enter the room.

The room was completely quiet with several sets of eyes staring at the boy from the future. That silence was ultimately broken by Mr. Hansen, "Sitala, please take a seat," he asked.

Sitala sat down in one of the rows that didn't have any staff. Harriet glared at Sitala, while Nels gave him a look of disappointment. Caroline was also there and had a look of disappointment written on her face.

Mr. Hansen made eye contact with Sitala and continued, "Sitala, we called this meeting because you are accused of something that happened after school yesterday," he stated.

Harriet stood up and glared more daggers at Sitala, "You hurt my Nellie, and you need to be horsewhipped within an inch of your life!" she exclaimed.

Sitala, not being one to just let someone yell at him like that, stood up himself, "You're the one to talk, lady," he shot back, "You can't even discipline your own kids."

There was a collective gasp when Sitala spoke back to Harriet. The heavyset woman feigned shock before speaking, "You see, this boy is utterly disrespectful to his elders," she stated before turning back to Sitala, "You're outnumbered, Sitala. You hurt my daughter, and I think 'I' need to be the one to administer the punishment to you."

"What are you going to do, sit on me?" Sitala asked.

Lars gave Sitala a sharp stare, "You sit down right now!" he shouted. Sitala sat down and Mr. Hansen took a deep breath before continuing, "Now, Sitala, can you tell us what happened after school yesterday?"

All eyes turned to Sitala as the floor was now his. He stood up to address the room, "Yeah, I finally got even with Nellie," he replied, "She wanted to hassle me in school, the teacher wasn't allowed to punish her, so I did."

Mr. Hansen nodded, "And how exactly did you go about doing that?" he asked.

Sitala told the room how he pretended to be alright with Nellie's opinion of him and invited her to the Sweetheart Tree, where he put his plan in motion. The room let out another collective gasp.

"Sitala, where are you from?" Mr. Hansen asked.

"I'm from Milwaukee, Wisconsin," Sitala replied.

Mr. Hansen turned to Charles, "Charles, you and Mr. Edwards found Sitala, correct?" he asked.

"Yes, I did," Charles stated, "Me and Caroline are both from Wisconsin. I wrote our old friends and family that still live there to see if there's any negro persons with the last name McLaurin living in the area."

"And what were your findings with that?" Mr. Hansen asked.

"There was no one with the last name in the area," Charles stated.

Mr. Hansen turned his attention back to Sitala, "Sitala, how did you arrive in Walnut Grove?" he asked.

"I was exploring an abandoned house and while exploring, I fell through the floor," Sitala stated, "Then when I woke up, I was here. That's when Mr. Ingalls and Mr. Edwards found me."

Sitala purposely left out the fact that he was in the year 2018 and was 31 years old at the time he fell through that floor. He didn't know how psych wards worked back then, and he didn't want to find out.

The people in the room didn't quite believe Sitala on how he ended up in town, including Mr. Hansen, "Sitala, this is no time for jokes," he said in a serious tone, "Tell us the truth. How did you end up in Walnut Grove."

Now Sitala was getting mad again. He wasn't lying about hwo he ended up in the area, which meant he didn't know how to get back to 2018. He took a deep breath before deciding to admit that he wasn't from that time, "I'm not joking about how I got here," he stated, "And I'm not from this time. I'm a 31 year old man from 2018."

Mrs. Oleson couldn't help but laugh, "Hahahahahahaha! A 31 year old man, from 2018?" she continued to laugh.

"Sitala, because you continue to not tell the truth about how you got here, and no one can find any relatives for you, we're going to have to assign you to live with someone here," Mr. Hansen stated.

"I already live with Mr. Edwards," Sitala stated, "I'm happy there."

Mr. Hansen let out a long sigh, "Fine," he said, "But you will be punished for what you did to Nellie Oleson. The punishment will be up to Mr. and Mrs. Oleson."

Mr. Oleson turned to Sitala, "Sitala, you're banned from buying anything from the mercantile indefinitely," he said.

Charles turned to Sitala next, "And you need to repay the dress you destroyed when you stuck Nellie to that tree," he added.

"Mr. Hansen, I have a better idea," Harriet stated, "I think Sitala needs to do Nellie's chores for her until she gets better, and he will be disciplined by me."

"And because you were in my house eating my food knowing you did wrong, you will be working at my place to pay off the dress," Charles added, "And the payment for the dress will replace the meals you've been working for."

"And you will help Nellie with her homework until she gets better," Harriet added, "And you will learn to watch your mouth."

"And one more thing, you will be working the store to work off the doctor visit from Dr. Baker," Nels added.

Now knowing the punishment, Mr. Hansen looked at Sitala, "I will be checking in to ensure you're doing as you're told," he said, "I think that will be all. Ms. Beadle, you can begin class now."

With that, the meeting was over and Sitala was going to miss out on some good cooking.

* * *

Having missed breakfast at the Ingalls, and would be missing many more meals at the Ingalls place, Sitala rushed to his usual spot at recess to eat his lunch. Fortunately for him, he packed four Slim Jims, some trail mix, a Vanilla Coke and a Reese's. He had plenty more snacks he brought with him as well.

The kids didn't want to talk to Sitala, most likely because of what he did to Nellie the previous day. But he didn't care.

However, that quiet time was short lived, because to his surprise, Mary walked over to him and sat next to him, "Hi, Sitala, " she greeted, "I know about what you did to Nellie, but I'm not mad at you."

Sitala was surprised that Johnny wasn't following Mary around like a lost puppy, "Why isn't Johnny following you around?" he asked, "I thought you were helping him with his schoolwork."

Mary shook her head no, "I couldn't help him any longer," she stated, "I'd try, but he would never get it. I spoke to Ms. Beadle and she'll be helping him from now on. Also, he's watching over the class while Ms. Beadle is out for a bit."

The duo was soon joined by Laura, who had just walked out of the schoolhouse. She made her way over and sat on the other side of Sitala, "Hi," she greeted.

Sitala looked over at Laura, "Hi," he greeted, "Aren't you going to wait for Johnny?"

Laura shook her head no, "No, I'm not," she replied, "We walked to school this morning and he put Mary's name on the Sweetheart Tree. And besides, it isn't the same without you."

Sitala couldn't help but smile. It was nice to have some normalcy back, "Glad to have you both back," he said.

"Did you bring any candy today?" Laura asked.

Sitala grabbed his other bag and opened it. There were M&Ms and Starburst in the bag, "Go ahead and take your pick," he said.

"Thanks!" Laura exclaimed before grabbing some Starburst.

"Thank you, Sitala," Mary added before grabbing a pack of M&Ms.

"So, how much trouble did you get into with the Nellie incident?" Laura asked.

"I have to work off the doctor visit and Nellie's dress," Sitala replied, "And I have to help Nellie with her homework until she gets better. Your Pa banned me from eating meals at your house until my debt is paid. So you won't see me at breakfast or dinner for awhile."

"How about for old time sake, let's race around the schoolhouse," Laura suggested.

"You're on!" Sitala said before turning to Mary, "What about you, Mary?"

"Count me in as well!" Mary exclaimed.

The three got up to go race.

* * *

Over at the mill, Mr. Edwards, Charles and Mr. Hansen were having lunch, but Mr. Edwards was curious as to what was going on, "How did things go at the meetin'?" he asked.

"The boy's being punished," Mr. Hansen said, "But you need to discipline him."

Walking over from the schoolhouse was Ms. Beadle. The schoolteacher got closer and closer, which made the three men curious as to why she was there, "Ms. Beadle, what brings you here?" asked Charles.

"Actually, I'm looking for Mr. Edwards," Ms. Beadle replied.

Mr. Edwards put down his green stew, "Oh, that's me," he said, "What do you need?"

Ms. Beadle pulled out the note she had sent home with Sitala the other day, "Mr. Edwards, do you let Sitala swear at home all the time?"

This made the bearded man confused, "What do you mean?" he asked.

Ms. Beadle pulled out the note she sent home with Sitala, "I suppose you didn't punish Sitala for this?" she asked.

Mr. Edwards took a look at the note and was confused as to why he'd punish Sitala for it, "Now why would I punish the boy for this?" he asked, "He showed me it, said it was homework and that I was supposed to practice it with him. It went something like this," Mr. Edwards put his arm into the air, "YUM YUM! HORRAY HORRAY! THANK YOU FOR THIS GREAT MEAL!" he recited as he pumped his fist into the air.

Hearing this made Ms. Beadle's face turn red with anger. Charles and Mr. Hansen took a look at the note and they were not happy, either. Sitala had taken advantage of the fact that Mr. Edwards couldn't read or write.

Ms. Beadle took a deep breath and regained her composure, "Mr. Edwards, can you come with me, please?" she asked.

Mr. Edwards looked at Mr. Hansen for approval and he nodded his head, excusing him from work.

* * *

Everyone was enjoying themselves at recess, but that enjoyment was soon interrupted when an upset Ms. Beadle came rushing back towards the schoolhouse with a confused Mr. Edwards in tow. The schoolteacher spotted Sitala, "Sitala, get inside, now!" she ordered.

All the kids stopped playing and watched as Sitala followed both Mr. Edwards and Ms. Beadle into the schoolhouse.

Once inside, Ms. Beadle didn't hesitate to get to her point, "Sitala, what does this say?" she demanded, handing the student the note he brought home.

Sitala did all he could not to laugh. Taking advantage of Mr. Edwards not being able to read caught up with him. He took a deep breath before finally responding to the teacher, "It says, Sitala was sent to the corner for calling Willie a bastard," he read.

Mr. Edwards gave Sitala a sharp stare, "You lied to me, boy!" he shouted, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry I lied to you about what was written on the paper," Sitala said.

This seemed to calm Mr. Edwards down, "Alright, just don't do it again," he said.

Ms. Beadle did not like this at all, "Mr. Edwards, you have to punish him," she stated, clearly not happy with Sitala being let off with just saying sorry.

"Look, he said he was sorry," Mr. Edwards said, defending Sitala.

Ms. Beadle let out a sigh of annoyance, "Fine, you may go, Mr. Edwwards," she said. Mr. Edwards left the schoolhouse to go back to work. The teacher then turned her attention back to Sitala, "As for you, you'll stand in the corner for the rest of the day. You're going to write an essay to read in front of the whole class about how not to take advantage of people and no recess/lunch hour for the rest of the week."

To say the rest of the week, including the two weeks following were uneventful for Sitala was an understatement. Over at the mercantile, he had to really bite his tongue when helping Nellie with her homework and doing her chores. Charles worked Sitala very hard when he was over there working off the destroyed dress. He badly wanted a taste of Mrs. Ingalls' cooking, but it wasn't going to happen. By the final day, Sitala couldn't wait for his punishment to be over. His super glue was confiscated, though. But he got it back. Nellie would always be known as Tree Hugger in his mind.

Laura had gotten over her crush on Johnny after a talk with her Pa. Her and Mary had made up with each other.

* * *

 **That's it for this chapter.**

 **I didn't focus too much on the Johnny Johnson part because I wanted to focus more on Sitala finally being punished for his actions.**

 **Bye for now.**


End file.
